By Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA, (PNA) — Pork barrel fund scam whistleblower Benjur Luy Friday took the witness stand before the Makati court on the continuation of the hearing on the bail petition of businesswoman and alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.
Luy claimed to have been threatened by Napoles’ brother after the siblings accused him of having his own transactions.
“Hayop ka traydor ka. Alam mo Benjur convicted criminal na ako, wala nang saysay buhay ko, papatayin kita para lang sa ate ko,” Luy quoted Napoles’ brother, Reynald “Jojo” Lim as saying last Dec 19, 2012, moments after Napoles scanned Luy’s cellphone and saw messages from one “Flor” and “Maya.”
Luy made the statement while on the witness stand during a court hearing at the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 150.
Prior to this statement allegedly uttered by Lim, Napoles called a meeting with officers in charge of PDAF-related transactions at the JLN Corp. office to discuss transaction backlogs, Department of Agriculture transactions and some other transactions with local government units.
Present during the meeting, he said, were Merlina Sunas, Evelyn de Leon, Ronald John Lim (Napoles’ nephew) and Luy himself.
During the meeting, there was a time when Napoles grabbed Luy’s cellphone when a certain “Flor” subsequently texted.
The message was allegedly about cash amounting to P8,000.
“Aba may text pala kayo ni Flor. May communication pala kayo ni Flor,” Luy quoted Napoles as saying.
Luy told the court that Napoles also knew someone named “Flor,” a fortune teller fom Laguna.
Luy said he explained to Napoles that Flor was his childhood friend from Zamboanga City and she was asking money to be sent to her in the province.
Even after his explanation, Napoles went on reading the contents of Luy’s phone.
Subsequently, Napoles then saw the name of “Maya.”
Through her nephew, Napoles found out that the Maya in Luy’s phone is her long-time friend.
This was the time Napoles got angry and cursed him, he said.
Luy said Napoles ordered his detention after she discovered that he had been receiving text messages from a certain Maya, an alleged project coordinator for some senators.
He said Napoles’ brother, Jojo Lim, detained him at the office of JLN Group of Companies in Discovery Suites, Pasig on Dec 19, 2012.
Luy said Lim threatened to harm his family and even showed a photo of Luy’s mother, Gertrudes Luy.
At the time, Luy’s mother was still working for Napoles.
Luy said he could not make phone calls because the phone in his room had no dial tone.
He broke down in tears as he recalled the threats Lim made to his family.
Both Napoles and Lim are facing serious illegal detention charges filed against them by Luy for allegedly detaining him for three months.