MANILA, June 17 (PNA) – Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV on Tuesday said government should recover up to the last centavo all the public funds that businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles allegedly pocketed in the pork barrel scam.
”We call on the government to hasten the trial of Napoles so that we can pinpoint and recover the money she pocketed from the government, up to the last centavo,” Aquino said in a press statement.
Aquino made his reaction after whistleblowers’ lawyer Levito Baligod claimed that Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the P10-billion priority development assistance fund (PDAF) scam, pocketed P15 billion from the government.
”The P2 billion that Janet Lim Napoles wants to return is nothing compared to what she earned from her illegal transactions with the government,” Aquino said.
”This is more than the P10 billion that was stolen from the public due to the PDAF scam. The amount doesn’t include properties purchased by Napoles using the public coffers,” he added.
Baligod alleged that Napoles earned P15 billion in 10 years in her transactions with the government particularly involving PDAF based on the bank transactions.
Napoles was among the 39 individuals, including three senators, charged with plunder and graft by the Ombudsman in the Sandiganbayan.
The three charged senators include Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. (PNA)