PDAF Scam Whistleblower Marina Sula (UNTV News)
QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Marina Sula repeated a detailed account in Sandiganbayan 5th Division of her participation in the pork barrel scam.
She is the fifth witness of the prosecution against former lawmaker and APEC Partylist Representative Edgar De Leon Valdez.
Valdez is one of the second batch of lawmakers charged with plunder and graft from the PDAF scam.
During the direct examination, Sula narrated her employment history in the JLN Corporation and Jo-Christ Trading Company which are both owned and controlled by Janet-Lim Napoles.
Sula said Napoles utilized the JLN Corporation merely as front for her transactions with lawmakers where she gets them to use their pork barrel funds to finance ghost projects.
Based on her testimonies, Sula was one of those whom Napoles trusted to register the 27 non-government organizations.
She was also made president of one NGO’s particularly the Masagang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation, Inc. or MAMFI.
Napoles also instructed her to process the NGO bank transactions and facilitate the meeting with government agencies.
Sula also revealed she used to receive one percent commission from the total amount of transactions of MAMFI.
She said one of the lawmakers she was able to transact with was the former Representative Edgar Valdez.
She also said she saw Valdez personally coming to Napoles’ office to submit the NGO endorsement letter and claim his commissions from 2005 to 2007 or 2008.
On the other hand, Valdez denied this and said it was just another new story from Sula.
“This is another story because she has executed five sworn statement before the Ombudsman, before the NBI of her own, she hasn’t mentioned anything like this. This is totally a different story now.”
Valdez added Sula’s statements were vague though he did not deny about his acquaintance with Napoles.
“Well, that issue is debatable because to go there to get money, I never did it but if I went there to see someone else is another issue… Yes, I know her,” Valdez said. (VICTOR COSARE / UNTV News)