Cunanan must prove posh home not his: Bam
  • 5 years ago
MANILA - Sen. Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV believes the Department of Justice (DOJ) did its homework before accepting Technology Resource Center head Dennis Cunanan as a provisional state witness in the pork barrel scam case. Speaking to ANC's Headstart, Aquino said Cunanan should lay to rest allegations that he owns a P40 million house in a posh subdivision. "It belongs to his brother and sister. I think the DOJ did their homework and they won't just let anyone in the witness protection program. They must make sure he comes with clean hands," he said. He also supported Cunanan's decision to open up his bank accounts to scrutiny and undergo a lifestyle check. Aquino said Cunanan should also give details about his conversations with Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla about their priority development assistance funds (PDAF). In his 36-page affidavit with the Office of the Ombudsman, Cunanan directly implicated co-respondents Revilla and Estrada to the scam, and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, allegedly through his former chief of staff, Atty. Gigi Reyes. Cunanan was Deputy Director General of the Technology Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), now TRC, from 2004 up to 2010. The charges against the three senators covered their PDAF allocations for 2007 to 2009, based on a Commission on Audit (COA) report. Cunanan claimed he was "pressured" and "admonished" by Revilla and Estrada via phone to release the funds to non-government organizations set up by Janet Lim Napoles. This allegedly took place when he would call their offices in the Senate to confirm the endorsement letters and signatures. Aquino noted that whistle-blowers such as Cunanan and Ruby Tuason back up the revelations in the pork barrel scam since they were personally involved in the controversy. He also said the DOJ must be more circumspect about getting other witnesses who are among the accused in the pork scam. "Everybody in the charge sheet will be scrambling to testify but I hope the DOJ will be more circumspect. If everyone becomes a state witness, hindi naman tama yun," he said.