As far as the P10 Billion Pork Barrel Scam is concerned, it seems certain sectors of the Filipino Cyberspace are more interested in tongue and finger action than the rather unexciting ideas of fairness, decency, truth, and justice.
By tongue and finger action, I refer to all the tongue wagging and keyboard crunching of the typical rumor mill and its digital equivalent on the internet.
As soon as someone raises a well thought out point that goes against the supposedly popular “moral” and “right” opinion, they are sometimes accused of being “paid hacks” or worse.
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In the backwaters of internet called “Filipino Cyberspace”, there are a lot of people who love dressing themselves up in “hyper morality garbs” made up of status updates, tweets, and blog posts as they hurl the digital stones at the convenient Mary Magdalene of the moment.
Over the past days, a number of blog posts have circulated various versions of Berteni “Toto” Causing’s blog post supposedly exposing photographs of the daughter of Janet Lim Napoles’ daughter dressed in luxurious clothes, shoes, and what-have-you.
Using his prowess as a veteran journalist of note, years of legal education, and former official of the National Press Club (NPC), Causing wrote:
“This daughter of the “mother f*cker” (referring to Janet Lim Napoles.) should know she wears all the money out of the blood of poor Filipinos. Where is the conscience of this girl?”
“Like her mother, she must be f*cked to prison, too, and all her signature apparels confiscated as unexplained wealth.”
(Note: Words in parenthesis mine.)
Causing’s expose has gone viral like a… er.. well… virus.
And judging just by the comments, you’d probably be somewhat tempted to think that Jeane was somewhat a part of or played a part in the yet-to-be proved crimes that her mother, Janet Lim Napoles.
The thing is, so far, no newspaper has come out with any evidence linking Jeane to the supposed crimes of her mother. Was Jeane an officer of any of the supposed organizations that her mother allegedly used in the so-called “P10 Billion Pork Barrel Scam”?
I think this is the right question to ask when confronted by what seems to be an over-hyped bit of “luxury porn” that Causing foisted on the public at large.
In an odd sort of way, the furor over Jeane’s luxurious lifestyle reminds me of the so-called “Globe Asiatique Pag-IBIG Ghost buyer Scam” which also broke in the Philippine Daily Inquirer a few years ago. The purported scheme in which Delfin Lee (the owner of Globe Asiatique) stands accused of was said to have involved creating thousands of “fake” Pag-IBIG Fund members who availed loans to buy thousand of low cost housing units developed by Globe Asiatique in Pampanga.
The reason why Jeane reminds me of that is because Divine Lee, the daughter of Delfin Lee, was purportedly an officer of Globe Asiatique and Pag-IBIG Fund wanted to have her charged with syndicated estafa along with her father.
in a general information sheet at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Divine Lee was listed as the CEO of the GA Tower 2.
Lee was also named as one of directors and incorporators of the condominium in the documents submitted by the realty firm to the SEC on March 18, 2010.
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/260366/lee-daughter-linked-to-scam#ixzz2axL3cN3c
The tongues and fingers didn’t wag at Divine as much as Jeane despite the fact that during the whole digital uproar over the Pag-IBIG Fund Ghost Borrower Scam, Ms. Lee was quite visibly wearing all those glorious fashion names on her svelte frame in a number of fashion magazines and celebrity events.
In a rather far out way, connected by way of “luxury porn”, perhaps no one will beat Kris Aquino and President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino when it comes to living it up on her parents’ name and wealth — which, if we are to believe, has its roots in the stolen funds of the Philippine Revolution and Hacienda Luisita.
The story goes the General Antonio Luna transported the wealth of the Philippine Revolution to Panique Tarlac and left it for safekeeping with Ysidra Cojuanco. When the Revolution was over, the American occupying forces couldn’t find it and years later, Ysidra Cojuanco became the wealthiest woman in the Philippines.
She purportedly used the “missing” revolutionary funds to buy up lands all over Tarlac which became Hacienda Luisita and set up her children to dominate politics in Tarlac as well as the rest of the Philippines.
And look at Ysidra’s progeny… We have a Porse driving President who dates some of the prettiest and sexiest women in the country… We have Kris Aquino who is adulated by the celebrity-loving masses and MILF hunters around the world.
Of course! Of course! THEY of ALL people used THEIR OWN HARD EARNED MONEY to get all these things!!
Well, anyway… Yet another question in my mind right now is how come all the uproar surround Jeane Lim Napoles’ luxurious lifestyle has that particular flavor of gangland revenge?
I don’t know why, but it seems that this Jeane bashing is really a ploy to get at Janet Napoles by targeting the obvious soft spot she has for her youngest daughter.
It seems like the typical tactic of one who was probably subjected to abuse by their own parents as a child and as a grown up, dominates or abuses children.
I am not at all sure if Benhur Luy, the so-called Whistleblower (wink! wink!), has anything to do with the vilification campaign against Jeane. However, being in such a close working relationship with Janet Lim Napoles, there’s some reason to think that he’d know very well just how much it would hurt her to see her daughter flayed in public.
Charged with qualified theft amounting to P300,000, this bit of information makes it seem that Luy as somewhat of a disgruntled employee lashing back at his employer Janet Lim Napoles.
And really… Wow! The extent to which Luy purportedly got back at Janet is simply amazing.
As word would have it, Luy apparently conducted talks with Janet Lim Napoles camp through a certain Atty. Levito Baligod prior to all the brouhaha. In those talks, it was claimed that Baligod asked for some P300 Million in exchange for his client (Benhur Luy) to shut up.
Is that some kind of extortion ploy or what?
Writer.
These cases are on going and we just have to wait for the verdict. Huwag natin madaliin.
And when it comes to PNoy’s ‘enemies’ minamadali na rin, right? 😀
As usual, you fail again with your flawed propaganda, fool.
You really are a glutton for punishment since you keep showing your face here to be humiliated by us.
When will you ever realize that your propaganda will never protect your president from his impending fall?
Or when will you ever GROW a f*cking brain, you stupid sack of shit???
TROLL HARDER
And the plot thickens, as usual.
Sometimes, Filipinos, especially the “chattering classes,” do tongue and finger wagging just to have a feel of moral superiority, a sort of power-tripping… although they actually don’t have that moral superiority at all. What do you call that when you feel good accusing someone of evil, feeling “morally right” yourself? Another word aside from hypocrisy, I think it’s a defense mechanism. Projection?
inggit ata tawag dyan…
Puede din.
Well said Sir Paul. Very Journalistic indeed. With the media war going on it was rare to read a piece a bout the issue that shows fairness and journalistic integrity.
Thanks for the compliment.
I haven’t taken sides on this one. The charges against Janet Napoles are very serious and this sort of monkeying around just gives it a nasty flavor.
Like everyone else, I want to find out the truth about the whole thing — after all, those are are goddarned taxes!
Oo nga naman no? bakit natin pagiinitan ang isang tao na walang kinalaman? Bullying nga talaga dahil sha lang naman kaya natin ibully eh. bakit di tayo magcomment at sumulat sa mga politiko. bakit di natin ipost mga marangyang bahay gamit at party nila. I’m sure marami dyan…
dami pa ring di nagiisip sa pinoy tsk tsk… baka manalo pa si Pacquiao sa 2016 haaaayyyy….
think before you click kasi.. in the end of the day if your not guilty you have no reason to be ashamed..
History will confirm the recent opinion survey that pnoy aquino is the worst president ever.
Lazy, not very bright, and as sexually straight as his crooked road of governance and free access to jobs and the public coffers for his family, friends and cronies. A 3rd world shit.
It will also show how weak and ineffective he was, and a hypocrite who would not keep his promises.
Not a gentleman, just a goofy git with a toothy grin, a social anxiety and personality disorder and a cockroach of the worst kind.
As corrupt as the rest of the cojuangco-aquinos and just trying to extend the brand.
As they say… Newspaper is history in a rush.
His excellent goofiness is on the news everyday.
There must be some positive stories to the pork barrel? Why else keep it…
The really bad thing about the pork barrel is that it is used as leverage to get allegiance from Congress (upper house and lower house).
The Legislature is supposed to be an independent body but the pork barrel makes sure that congressmen will sing hossanah hey whenever Malacanang stops the pork from flowing.
Last I heard, Pnoy wants the pork barrel to remain.
Proof/evidence is a judicial evaluation. Since when the moneyed class in RP ever seen the inside of a prison? 🙂
Hmmmm… Jalosjos, Teehankee, Webb… Those are just three names I remember.
Good question though.
You forgot Chavit Singson’s cousin — “Bingbong” Crisologo. For those of you too young to remember, he was convicted and sentenced to two life terms for burning down two villages — Ora Centro and Ora Este — in Ilocos Sur in 1970 and slaughtering their inhabitants because they did not vote for his mother. He was sent to the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa in 1976. He was incarcerated until 1981 when he was pardoned by then President Ferdinand Marcos. To this day, he claims he was framed by his father’s enemies in order to remove him from politics. He is currently serving his final term as representative of the 1st Congressional District of Quezon City.
But what does this really signify? Sure, a couple of rich and influential guys get convicted and jailed, but does that really amount to a whole sack of beans in as far as having a working justice system overall?
It’s pretty when you put it in the headlines though.
Actually, Paul, it’s probably worse that Crisologo got a pardon after only six years. Marcos’s act repudiates the justice system and the notion that the courts are capable of delivering justice. That’s what people will remember — that it doesn’t matter how many people you kill or how reprehensible the crime, if you are connected, you will not be punished.
When asked in an interview if he were repentant about his actions, Crisologo said he had nothing to repent. He maintains he was framed for the massacre of the two towns and, being a born again Christian, whatever sins he may have committed, that was between him and his Saviour. Hypocritical bastard even rode that horse to his current political career.
Paul, instead of alluding parallels to ysidra, kris, (dargani,lee,montano in your other blog), you could have focused more on the napoleses’ source of income.
How was their daughter able to afford owning an 80M condo in LA, own 2 porsches, buy premium show tickets, etc. Where did they source the multi million peso for their wedding anniv in cebu officiated by 25 priests, billeted guests in shangrila hotel.
As for the wedding in Cebu “this much is true uh . I know this much is true” (piano) (sax).
I think Janet Napoles said that one of their businesses is supplying coal to South Korea.
I’ll take that on face value, for the moment, unless new information comes up that challenges it.
For now, the burden of proving that she’s lying about her sources of income falls on her accusers — that is, if you believe in generally accepted principles of law.
If you take napoles’ coal business at face values, apply the same to these:
Luy said he was given a salary raise from P8,000 to P12,000. Napoles then offered him 0.5-percent commission when the amounts involved got bigger. “I got around P200,000 to P300,000 from our collections …. If the commission got too big, say P500,000, then Madam brought it lower. She was very tight with money,” he said.
Luy said Napoles’ acquisitions became more lavish in 2009 when she cornered the entire P900-million Malampaya fund allocated to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).
“She really hit the jackpot then because she never delivered anything from the project, she got all the money. She ordered our foundations to start buying dollars from a black market trader on Pasong Tamo Avenue, Makati. She used these dollars to buy a hotel in Anaheim, California, ($7 million) and a condominium in LA ($1 million),” said Luy.
Suñas said she was responsible for coordinating with then Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and his undersecretary, Narciso B. Nieto, what NGOs would be used as conduits. She said the NGOs were supposed to provide P35,781 worth of agricultural products (gloves, seeds sprayers, and containers) to each beneficiary…
Janet lim Napoles – billionaire, but how!?
5 houses/lots in forbes park
Hotel in davao
7 million dollar hotel in US
1 million dollar condo in US
The list keeps growing and now everyone is putting up a wall of silence, even her lawyer is refusing to say what her business actually is!! “We will respond at the appropriate time”. Right.
jonphil,
I think you are mistaken in your interpretation of “taking things at face value.”
The Napoles’ businesses interests can be verified easily enough. They are documented and registered with the SEC. That’s why it is appropriate to say that their claims may be “taken at face value.”
The accusations against them on the other hand do not have that kind of authoritative proof to substantiate what has been said. They are generally based on allegations made by Luy and Napoles’s other employees.
The only thing that can be verified independently at this point are the Napoles’s ostentatious displays of wealth. At best their conspicuous consumption suggests income from sources other than what they have declared. Even then it isn’t direct proof that they committed any criminal acts involving the PDAF. What the government needs to establish is a concrete paper trail to prove that. As with all cases like this — “Follow the money.”
JSaint,
I agree w you paper & money trails be investigated by sec, bir, etc. Aren’t you suspicious tho why it’s taking the govt agencies too long to act? Govt was a well-oiled mahinery during corona’s persecution. I’m sure you’re aware that the biggest syndicate in PI is the govt (esp now it involves 99%).
“They are generally based on allegations made by Luy and Napoles’s other employees”
But paul takes napoles’ coal supplying-to-korea business at face value . A one-liner napoles’ declaration compared to the detailed ‘allegations’ of luy/sunas.
Cherry picking brings slant.
jonphil,
That’s just it. These matters should be investigated. Not tried in the court of public opinion. As far as anyone is concerned, the statements against the Napoleses are just allegations. Anything we post here about what she and her family may or may not have done are just suspicions. THEY ARE NOT PROOF. Like it or not, Napoles’ companies that are registered with the SEC offer a better defense than an unsubstantiated affidavit from a former employee.
If Luy’s statements have any truth to it, it will be easy to support the claims with a paper trail — as that much money will definitely leave a paper trail.
I’ll say it again — Kim Henares ought to look into the culpability of the banks and/or financial institutions the Napoles family had dealings with. If they were aware that the huge sums were somehow connected with a scheme to defraud the Philippine government, they could be liable for money laundering.
What if the whistleblower was part of the racket too? Don’t jail, kasi whistleblower nga ba? That would be hypocrisy.
I got to look it up again, but I think in the US, whistle blowers still get punished.
I think that’s because whistle blowers usually are accomplices or partners in crime.
If someone who isn’t part of the crime comes up with testimony or evidence, then that person is usually called a witness.
It doesn’t really depend on culpability. The whistleblower doesn’t have to be a party to the crime. By definition “whistleblower” refers to someone who has inside (even intimate) knowledge of the “crime” being prosecuted. So really it’s just semantics. You can call them “whistleblower” or simply “witnesses;” either way their importance rests in the evidence they provide. And if they have committed some criminal act they can still be prosecuted for it.
Yes, no disagreement there, if the so-called whistleblower is not among the accomplices, then they shouldn’t be punished. But investigate, just to be sure. In this case, it’s likely one of the accomplices got pissed off and tried to destroy one of their “partners.” And going under the guise of a “whistleblower,” raising public outrage against that former “partner” also serves to draw attention away from oneself – even if the “whistleblower” is actually part of the crime.
Ligot,garcia, napoles
AFP trains people to steal, not fight. No wonder the philippines is overrun by anyone and everyone, at will.
They certainly run like cowards when confronted.
No doubt St. Lukes medical centre already has a room ready for janet napoles – the stress of all that stolen money. Treatment abroad in LA next!!
Clearly AFP recruits from the gutter.
no chance of this happening to a Sandhurst family
–there are many questionable issues in this case….however, I still believe that there is still a rule of court…where both parties are given a chance to be heard and present their evidences…I totally disagree, people in blogs making conclusions and igniting angers among netizens against Janet Napoles and her daughter, Jeane. They have the right to be heard too and have a privacy and security concerns after some medias posting their phone numbers and addresses on net and papers and declaring too much wealth that yet to be proven if it really theirs.
WTF no other place to comment but no news on the terror attack in the south. No ABS, No Tribune nothing wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!
P10 biliion is what? 250 Million U.S. dollars? that is a lot of CA$H, where is it? it might be EZ to steal, but it is difficult to hide. Where are all the forensic accountants? BTW, does the woman have an income that supports her lavish life-style? if not, she should not be flaunting her MAYBE ill-gotten wealth all over the internet, it just isn’t too bright a thing to do.
send in the clowns….
For me, it was a great point when they revealed the lifestyle of the youngest child. It only showed their lifestyle how, how they spend their money. If money is involved, questioning how they spend there money is appropriate.
I think what’s happening now is that because of the shown lifestyle of their child, they choose to be silent now, asking help from the elite and powerful politicians involve in the scam, praying that their silence will be overcome by all the bombing and terrorist attacks.
Jeane Napoles carries the curse that her parents brought to themselves and to their kins for the terrible, horrendous wrong doings they did and continue doing to the Filipino people. I wonder how you could empathize with the Napoles family. Even pending the result of NBI investigation, all trails lead to Napoles. Are you just naive, blind or a paid PR man?