(CNN Philippines) — When the Commission on Audit (COA) checked on how lawmaker spent their pork barrel funds from 2007 to 2009, it found several people connected with various nongovernment organizations.
Prof. Giovanni Tapang of the National Institute of Physics at the University of the Philippines used network analysis on the transactions coursed through these NGOs.
the help of his students, he found out that there were five NGO networks that often dealt with the same group of lawmakers.
“Typically, these groups would run to around 20 to 30 NGOs. Some of them have very small money that they have received from the congressmen. But other run through half a billion, 530-plus milion,” Tapang says.
The network that ranks second to the Napoles NGO group is the one to which the NGOs mentioned here belong.
This group, which secured PDAF projects worth P1.393 billion, is composed of 16 NGOs.
Kabuhayan at Kalusugan Alay sa Masa Foundation, Inc. got most of the projects, amounting to a total of P526.679 million.
One of its incorporators is Godofredo Roque, whose name also appears in the records of four other NGOs:
Gabay at Pag-asa ng Masa Foundation, Inc. (GPMFI)
Kasangga sa Magandang Bukas Foundation Inc. (KMBFI)
Kaagapay Magpakailanman Foundation Inc. (KMFI)
Ikaw at Ako Foundation Inc. (IAFI)
Marilou Ferrer is also an incorporator of KKAMFI, GPMFI, and KMFI.
Like Roque and Ferrer, Marilou Antonio is also an incorporator of KKAMFI.
She’s also an incorporator and officer of GPMFI and KMBFI, a project coordinator of IAFI and president of BMMKFI.
Another incorporator of KKAMFI is Miraflor Villanueva, who is also an incorporator and project coordinator of KMBFI and secretary of BMMKFI.
They work with more people who serve as officers of the different NGOs.
It’s a complicated web.
More than Napoles
The Department of Justice says it is also investigating NGOs not linked to Napoles.
But Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares doubts this, saying that focusing on the Napoles group alone is wrong.
He said it’s really “implausible” that it was only Napoles operating the scam.
He said it’s not just the P10.2 billion being attributed to Napoles. The scam would involve hundreds of billions with the presidential pork barrel included.
According to the COA report, some of the lawmakers from 2007 to 2009 were also involved in earlier projects.
Colmenares explains why some lawmakers keep dealing with the same NGOs: “It’s a question of trust and track record. Na parang nag-deal na kayo dati, okay naman lahat, everybody happy naman, so let’s continue, di ba.? Kasi, you know, these are illegal transactions.”
The COA report shows that the Roque-linked NGOs secured pork funds mainly through three implementing agencies:
National Agri-Business Corp. (NABCOR)
Technology Resource Center (TRC)
National Livelihood Development Corp. (NLDC)
NABCOR has been abolished, along with two other NGOs linked to the pork barrel scam — the Philippine Forest Corp. and the Zamboang del Norte Rubber Estate Corp. (ZREC).
Colmenares wonders why the government isn’t going after officials of other agencies involved in the alleged misuse of PDAF.
“In fact, sila ang gwardiya dito, eh,” he says. “Dapat eh bantay sila. Eh nagbantay-salakay sila.”
Documents show that KKAMFI and GPMFI in 2012 and 2013 were coursed through the National Agriculture and Fishery Council (NAFC), which is under the Department of Agriculture.
NAFC was not mentioned in the COA special audit.
Colmenares says this only shows that the government has to investigate the scam beyond the details provided in the COA specil audit.
Watch Part 1: Pork scams beyond Napoles
Watch Part 2: Pork scams beyond Napoles
View: Timeline of Napoles’ case
Watch Part 1: Pork scams beyond Napoles
Watch Part 2: Pork scams beyond Napoles
