COA investigation goes only skin deep. There is no news about how that NBI's goes.
This investigation needs forensic accountants of sorts, not lawyers. Nothing worthy will be proved by having proof that money went to bogus NGOs. The NGOs are only the second layer, as far as investigation shows.
In order for these cases to stick, the money has to be traced from those NGOs to the next nth layer, with end result of proving that money were not kicked back to the suspected lawmakers, or indirectly, to his/her illegal interests. Like campaigne funds, for one
It is also possible that funds were directed to go to finance the election. How? Money from NGOs going to political leutenants. If Cash is withdrawn, make the beneficiaries account for the funds. If they cannot, then they, the NGO officials and masterminds (Napoles and lawmakers, together in conspiracy?) stole money from the government. Malversation.
The AMLC gets reports of transactions over P500k. Put those data in a database, check bank fund movements against those. Check actual movements from bank statements, and records. One question to settle is that, how compliant are banks in reporting above threshold transactions? I doubt that even in this issue the AMLA mechanism fails. Monitoring? Like the DBM, I have serious doubts.
Great stories can be told by these records. Who is interested in information beneath the skin, anyway?
I remember ex-prs eraps' lawyers' arguement that his SALN was invalid and therefore cannot be a premise for charge of lying on his SALN because the notary did NOT have a valid license. Tickle me, Hahahahaha.
Lawmakers are giving out a similar defense. that they did not know that the NGOs they endorsed their PDAF to were bogus.
My gad. You spend tens, hundred million of taxpayers' money, and you do not even care if the beneficiary is ligit? You have huge resources to know, and yet you dont know, their history, ownership, experic=nce, reputation?
That only means lawmakers cannot be trusted with govenment money. They should not be handling PDAFs.
Senate minority: 'Pork' transfer to NGOs has legal basis
September 4, 2013 4:11pm
Six senators, including three who were being linked to the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam, on Wednesday insisted that the transfer of these discretionary funds to non-government organizations (NGOs) has legal basis.
In a statement released to the media by Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile's office, the six opposition senators said the Commission on Audit (COA) was "wrong" in saying that giving pork barrel funds to NGOs is "without legal basis."
"General Appropriations Acts (GAAs) of previous years and even the GAA of the current year contain provisions allowing for the transfer of funds to civii society," the statement read.
The statement was signed by Senators Enrile, Gringo Honasan and Jinggoy Estradathe three lawmakers identified by COA chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan to have given their pork barrel funds to NGOs linked to Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged facilitator of the scam.
Enrile, Estrada and Honasan had all denied involvement in this alleged anomaly and having close ties with Napoles, who is currently detained over a serious illegal detention case.
Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito, Vicente Sotto III and Nancy Binay also signed the statement.
The opposition senators also maintained that "it is not the responsibility of the legislators to ascertain the legitimacy of the NGOs."
"That burden falls on the implemeting agencies and the local government units concerned as provided by law," they said. Andreo Calonzo/KBK, GMA News
Around P40 million in senators' pork barrel funds coursed through a foundation linked to businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles did not reach all intended beneficiaries in a town in Bataan province.
A Commission on Audit (COA) report on the pork barrel scam shows the money was meant for residents of Pilar, Bataan.
However, only a few received the assistance.
One old, worn-out owner-type jeep is the only vehicle that barangay personnel have in Sta. Rosa in Pilar town.
"Meron kami dati, kaso pagkatapos ng eleksyon binawi. Sabi pare-rehistro lang daw kaso 'di na binalik," said village watchman Jose Bautista.
According to a COA report for Pilar, the town received P10 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Senator Jinggoy Estrada in 2011.
The money was meant for a "Barangay Peace and Order" project.
Instead of going straight to the town's coffers, the funds went through the "People's Organization for Progress and Development Foundation" (POPDF).
The foundation supposedly used the money to prepare so-called "tanod packs" that contain a whistle, club, vest, t-shirt, cap, and pepper spray.
The audit report also shows that from the P10 million, only 99 packs were distributed to the town of Pilar.
"Masakit sa loob na malaman kasi biktima kami eh. Marami na sana ang napuntahan iyan," said barangay captain Ed Santos.
"Sayang, malaking tulong po sana sa amin iyan," said Bautista.
But municipal accountant Alicia Landringan denied the COA report's figures, saying they got more than 1,000 packs from POPDF.
Each pack was supposedly worth P10,000.
She said some of the packs were even distributed to other towns in Bataan.
Landringan claimed that there are no irregularities in the transactions.
Aside from the P10 million from Estrada's pork barrel, the COA is also looking into how the town spent the P20 million from the PDAF of Senator Tito Sotto and P10 million from Senator Bongbong Marcos.
All of these funds supposedly went through POPDF in 2011 and were meant to give assistance to farmers.
Some farmers in Pilar said they did receive sprayers and other equipment.
But according to the COA report, even if the NGO had a project proposal and a memorandum of agreement, it has not yet submitted a liquidation report that will show how the money was used.
COA recently tagged POPDF as one of the bogus NGOs linked to Janet Lim Napoles, the businesswoman at the center of the P10-billion pork barrel scam rocking government.
Meanwhile, Marcos said he will not comment on the issue until the pork barrel probe is finished.
As for Sotto, he insisted he never gave money to any questionable group.
He added that he is also not familiar with POPDF.
ABS-CBN News also tried to get a comment from Estrada, to no avail.
Amid 'pork' scandal, online petition seeks to name cyclones after corrupt politicians
September 4, 2013 9:34am
Amid the scandal stemming from the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam, enraged netizens want the PAGASA to start naming cyclones after corrupt politicians.
The petition on Change.org to name destructive cyclones after "corrupt politicians and grafters" had gathered more than 1,300 signatures as of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"Sign up now! Let this be a constant reminder of how our hard-earned money has been stolen or misspent by corrupt politicians," said Ismael Tomelden, who started the petition.
While Tolemden did not suggest a list of names of the supposed corrupt politicians, he said the damage caused by their corruption is "so great."
"The devastation they cause is so great... Mother Nature can't even compete with them for the destruction of life and property," he said.
He added the petition should be "a constant reminder of how our hard-earned money has been stolen or misspent by corrupt politicians."
PAGASA uses four lists of names for tropical cyclones, on a rotation basis. Each list has 26 names and 10 auxiliary names. LBG, GMA News
sa U.S. naman, they want to change the name of their hurricanes from ordinary names to the full names of all politicians who deny global warming and climate change:
EGAD!!!! Don't they select not only the implementing agencies but even who the contractors would be? Contractors would be NGOs, arn't they? Mali ba ako? Sino makakatangi sa senator, congressman? Kahit si Pres, magdadalawang isip.
4 senators endorsed NGOs
MANILA (August 30, 2013) -- The Commission on Audit (COA)
has confirmed that Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Gregorio
Honasan, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. had a hand
in choosing non-government organizations (NGOs) linked to
businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles as recipients of their pork
barrel funds.
COA Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan told the first hearing of the
Senate Blue Ribbon committee yesterday that the COA report
revealed the four senators were all found to have provided
their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocation
to the NGOs linked to Napoles.
Tan said eight out of the 82 NGOs cited in its audit report on
the use of the PDAF of legislators from 2007 to 2009 were
associated with Napoles.
Of the eight NGOs, seven received funds from four senators in
the total amount of P1.093 billion during the period reviewed
by the COA.
The eight NGOs linked to Napoles are the Agri & Economic
Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc. (AEPFI); Agricultura
Para sa Magbubukid Foundation, Inc. (APMFI); Countrywide
Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation, Inc.
(CARED); Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation,
Inc. (MAMFI); Peoples Organization for Progress and
Development Foundation, Inc. (POPDFI); Philippine Agri &
Social Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (PASEDF);
Philippine Social Development Foundation, Inc. (PSDFI); and
the Social Development Program for Farmers Foundations, Inc.
(SPDFFI).
The PASEDF received the PDAF of Pangasinan Rep. Conrado
Estrella III and former Manila Rep. Ernesto Nieva only.
The hearing yesterday, along with the presentation made by
Tan, was entirely on the eight Napoles-linked NGOs in the
audit report.
Based on the COA report, Enrile, Revilla, Estrada and Honasan
were all found to have provided their PDAF to the Napoles-
linked NGOs.
Revilla provided a total of P483.49 million; Enrile, P332.7
million; Estrada, P262.575 million; and Honasan, P14.55
million spread out to the different implementing agencies.
The list of legislators and NGO-recipients is contained in
Annex A of the COAs audit report or the list of NGOs to which
the PDAF was transferred.
Blue Ribbon committee chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III
asked Tan if the transfer of PDAF from the implementing
agencies to the NGOs was legal under the law in light of
reports that a lot of the NGOs were bogus.
Based on our review and in our considered opinion, there is
no law or ordinance that gives authority to transfer public
funds from a government agency to a private corporation like
an NGO, Tan said in Tagalog.
She also cited the implementing rules and regulations of
Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act, stating
that government funds could only be transferred to NGOs if
there is a supporting ordinance or appropriation authorizing
this.
In our opinion as auditors, the transfer of public funds to the
NGOs from the implementing agencies is not supported by
law, Tan said.
Guingona asked Tan if there were legislators who identified
specific NGOs that would receive their PDAF.
In most cases, yes, Tan replied.
When asked for proof of this, Tan said most of the legislators
submitted endorsement letters to the implementing agencies,
which they then attached to the disbursement vouchers for
release of the funds.
The AMLC gets reports of transactions over P500k. Put those data in a database, check bank fund movements against those. Check actual movements from bank statements, and records. One question to settle is that, how compliant are banks in reporting above threshold transactions? I doubt that even in this issue the AMLA mechanism fails. Monitoring? Like the DBM, I have serious doubts.
Great stories can be told by these records. Who is interested in information beneath the skin, anyway?
Our justice system is hardly put to task to expedite administering justice despite its mantra "justice delayed is justice denied." Filipinos can't take any excuse this time, especially since the injustices committed by Napoles are against all ordinary Filipinos who toil every day to make ends meet. Those administering justice involving the Napoles scam must be made to account.
Palace: Lawmakers have responsibility to verify PDAF projects
By KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMA News
September 5, 2013 10:43am
Malaca?ang on Thursday said lawmakers, not only implementing agencies, have the responsibility to verify projects being funded by their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
"Legislators, under the PDAF system, are the ones tasked to identify projects or beneficiaries out of their allocations. As such it is expected that they have done their due diligence on their projects," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a text message to reporters on Thursday.
She issued the statement after opposition senators on Wednesday said "it is not the responsibility of the legislators to ascertain the legitimacy of the NGOs."
"That burden falls on the implementing agencies and the local government units concerned as provided by law," they said.
Of the six opposition senators who signed the Senate statement, three were linked to the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam. ?KG, GMA News
Comments
This investigation needs forensic accountants of sorts, not lawyers. Nothing worthy will be proved by having proof that money went to bogus NGOs. The NGOs are only the second layer, as far as investigation shows.
In order for these cases to stick, the money has to be traced from those NGOs to the next nth layer, with end result of proving that money were not kicked back to the suspected lawmakers, or indirectly, to his/her illegal interests. Like campaigne funds, for one
It is also possible that funds were directed to go to finance the election. How? Money from NGOs going to political leutenants. If Cash is withdrawn, make the beneficiaries account for the funds. If they cannot, then they, the NGO officials and masterminds (Napoles and lawmakers, together in conspiracy?) stole money from the government. Malversation.
Great stories can be told by these records. Who is interested in information beneath the skin, anyway?
Lawmakers are giving out a similar defense. that they did not know that the NGOs they endorsed their PDAF to were bogus.
My gad. You spend tens, hundred million of taxpayers' money, and you do not even care if the beneficiary is ligit? You have huge resources to know, and yet you dont know, their history, ownership, experic=nce, reputation?
That only means lawmakers cannot be trusted with govenment money. They should not be handling PDAFs.
Besides, what a smelly argument, I think.
September 4, 2013 4:11pm
Six senators, including three who were being linked to the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam, on Wednesday insisted that the transfer of these discretionary funds to non-government organizations (NGOs) has legal basis.
In a statement released to the media by Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile's office, the six opposition senators said the Commission on Audit (COA) was "wrong" in saying that giving pork barrel funds to NGOs is "without legal basis."
"General Appropriations Acts (GAAs) of previous years and even the GAA of the current year contain provisions allowing for the transfer of funds to civii society," the statement read.
The statement was signed by Senators Enrile, Gringo Honasan and Jinggoy Estradathe three lawmakers identified by COA chairperson Grace Pulido-Tan to have given their pork barrel funds to NGOs linked to Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged facilitator of the scam.
Enrile, Estrada and Honasan had all denied involvement in this alleged anomaly and having close ties with Napoles, who is currently detained over a serious illegal detention case.
Senators Joseph Victor Ejercito, Vicente Sotto III and Nancy Binay also signed the statement.
The opposition senators also maintained that "it is not the responsibility of the legislators to ascertain the legitimacy of the NGOs."
"That burden falls on the implemeting agencies and the local government units concerned as provided by law," they said. Andreo Calonzo/KBK, GMA News
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/324985/news/nation/senate-minority-pork-transfer-to-ngos-has-legal-basis
naalala ko tuloy ang joke na ito:
Full size
Seriously though, the great Raul Roco must be rolling in his grave with what his former law firm partner is doing.
A Commission on Audit (COA) report on the pork barrel scam shows the money was meant for residents of Pilar, Bataan.
However, only a few received the assistance.
One old, worn-out owner-type jeep is the only vehicle that barangay personnel have in Sta. Rosa in Pilar town.
"Meron kami dati, kaso pagkatapos ng eleksyon binawi. Sabi pare-rehistro lang daw kaso 'di na binalik," said village watchman Jose Bautista.
According to a COA report for Pilar, the town received P10 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Senator Jinggoy Estrada in 2011.
The money was meant for a "Barangay Peace and Order" project.
Instead of going straight to the town's coffers, the funds went through the "People's Organization for Progress and Development Foundation" (POPDF).
The foundation supposedly used the money to prepare so-called "tanod packs" that contain a whistle, club, vest, t-shirt, cap, and pepper spray.
The audit report also shows that from the P10 million, only 99 packs were distributed to the town of Pilar.
"Masakit sa loob na malaman kasi biktima kami eh. Marami na sana ang napuntahan iyan," said barangay captain Ed Santos.
"Sayang, malaking tulong po sana sa amin iyan," said Bautista.
But municipal accountant Alicia Landringan denied the COA report's figures, saying they got more than 1,000 packs from POPDF.
Each pack was supposedly worth P10,000.
She said some of the packs were even distributed to other towns in Bataan.
Landringan claimed that there are no irregularities in the transactions.
Aside from the P10 million from Estrada's pork barrel, the COA is also looking into how the town spent the P20 million from the PDAF of Senator Tito Sotto and P10 million from Senator Bongbong Marcos.
All of these funds supposedly went through POPDF in 2011 and were meant to give assistance to farmers.
Some farmers in Pilar said they did receive sprayers and other equipment.
But according to the COA report, even if the NGO had a project proposal and a memorandum of agreement, it has not yet submitted a liquidation report that will show how the money was used.
COA recently tagged POPDF as one of the bogus NGOs linked to Janet Lim Napoles, the businesswoman at the center of the P10-billion pork barrel scam rocking government.
Meanwhile, Marcos said he will not comment on the issue until the pork barrel probe is finished.
As for Sotto, he insisted he never gave money to any questionable group.
He added that he is also not familiar with POPDF.
ABS-CBN News also tried to get a comment from Estrada, to no avail.
http://rp1.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/09/04/13/senators-pork-go-missing-bataan-town
This is appalling and simply unforgivable.
Sige, pabor na kong ibalik ang death penalty but only for the corrupt & conscienceless politicians. :bash:
insulto yan....
sa mga bagyo!
sa U.S. naman, they want to change the name of their hurricanes from ordinary names to the full names of all politicians who deny global warming and climate change:
:rotflmao:
meron na rin siyang wheelchair...
o diba, Louis Vuitton pa.
but here is the original
Okay granting it is not theirs, but money kept flowing to their pockets and they know why.....repeat....they know WHY!!!!
EGAD!!!! Don't they select not only the implementing agencies but even who the contractors would be? Contractors would be NGOs, arn't they? Mali ba ako? Sino makakatangi sa senator, congressman? Kahit si Pres, magdadalawang isip.
MANILA (August 30, 2013) -- The Commission on Audit (COA)
has confirmed that Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Gregorio
Honasan, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr. had a hand
in choosing non-government organizations (NGOs) linked to
businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles as recipients of their pork
barrel funds.
COA Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan told the first hearing of the
Senate Blue Ribbon committee yesterday that the COA report
revealed the four senators were all found to have provided
their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocation
to the NGOs linked to Napoles.
Tan said eight out of the 82 NGOs cited in its audit report on
the use of the PDAF of legislators from 2007 to 2009 were
associated with Napoles.
Of the eight NGOs, seven received funds from four senators in
the total amount of P1.093 billion during the period reviewed
by the COA.
The eight NGOs linked to Napoles are the Agri & Economic
Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc. (AEPFI); Agricultura
Para sa Magbubukid Foundation, Inc. (APMFI); Countrywide
Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation, Inc.
(CARED); Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation,
Inc. (MAMFI); Peoples Organization for Progress and
Development Foundation, Inc. (POPDFI); Philippine Agri &
Social Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (PASEDF);
Philippine Social Development Foundation, Inc. (PSDFI); and
the Social Development Program for Farmers Foundations, Inc.
(SPDFFI).
The PASEDF received the PDAF of Pangasinan Rep. Conrado
Estrella III and former Manila Rep. Ernesto Nieva only.
The hearing yesterday, along with the presentation made by
Tan, was entirely on the eight Napoles-linked NGOs in the
audit report.
Based on the COA report, Enrile, Revilla, Estrada and Honasan
were all found to have provided their PDAF to the Napoles-
linked NGOs.
Revilla provided a total of P483.49 million; Enrile, P332.7
million; Estrada, P262.575 million; and Honasan, P14.55
million spread out to the different implementing agencies.
The list of legislators and NGO-recipients is contained in
Annex A of the COAs audit report or the list of NGOs to which
the PDAF was transferred.
Blue Ribbon committee chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III
asked Tan if the transfer of PDAF from the implementing
agencies to the NGOs was legal under the law in light of
reports that a lot of the NGOs were bogus.
Based on our review and in our considered opinion, there is
no law or ordinance that gives authority to transfer public
funds from a government agency to a private corporation like
an NGO, Tan said in Tagalog.
She also cited the implementing rules and regulations of
Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act, stating
that government funds could only be transferred to NGOs if
there is a supporting ordinance or appropriation authorizing
this.
In our opinion as auditors, the transfer of public funds to the
NGOs from the implementing agencies is not supported by
law, Tan said.
Guingona asked Tan if there were legislators who identified
specific NGOs that would receive their PDAF.
In most cases, yes, Tan replied.
When asked for proof of this, Tan said most of the legislators
submitted endorsement letters to the implementing agencies,
which they then attached to the disbursement vouchers for
release of the funds.
http://www.angperyodiko.ca/headlines/2013_17SEPT1-15/senators.html
NBI at Ombudsman na lang ang wala pang supporting evidence sa reports ng COA
The banks are as dirty as the dirtiest of them.
Our justice system is hardly put to task to expedite administering justice despite its mantra "justice delayed is justice denied." Filipinos can't take any excuse this time, especially since the injustices committed by Napoles are against all ordinary Filipinos who toil every day to make ends meet. Those administering justice involving the Napoles scam must be made to account.
By KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMA News
September 5, 2013 10:43am
Malaca?ang on Thursday said lawmakers, not only implementing agencies, have the responsibility to verify projects being funded by their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
"Legislators, under the PDAF system, are the ones tasked to identify projects or beneficiaries out of their allocations. As such it is expected that they have done their due diligence on their projects," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a text message to reporters on Thursday.
She issued the statement after opposition senators on Wednesday said "it is not the responsibility of the legislators to ascertain the legitimacy of the NGOs."
"That burden falls on the implementing agencies and the local government units concerned as provided by law," they said.
Of the six opposition senators who signed the Senate statement, three were linked to the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam. ?KG, GMA News
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/325105/news/nation/palace-lawmakers-have-responsibility-to-verify-pdaf-projects
September 5, 2013 7:08pm
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/325182/economy/business/business-group-calls-for-abolition-of-pork-barrel-in-all-its-forms
Govt firms violated rules in giving 'pork' to NGOs senators
By ANDREO CALONZO,GMA News
September 5, 2013 4:03pm
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/325155/news/nation/govt-firms-violated-rules-in-giving-pork-to-ngos-senators