The so-called “Napoles List” and “Benhur List” of pork barrel deals with lawmakers and government agencies unveiled by Janet Lim-Napoles and whistleblower Benhur Luy remind us of two famous lists back in the ’90s.
In the movie “Schindler’s List”, Jewish businessman Oskar Schindler listed the name of every Jew he hired for his factory in a bid to save them from the Holocaust of German dictator Adolf Hitler.
The second was the list of Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss who recorded every famous personality who availed of her brother’s escort services. The similarities between these lists end there.
While Schindler made his list in a heroic effort to save helpless Jews from extermination, Fleiss’ clientele included personalities who spent their own hard-earned money.
The personalities in both the Napoles and Benhur lists all spent taxpayers’ money to enrich themselves in the guise of government projects.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was right to withhold the list from public view and to offer the Senate the option to open it for disclosure to the country. The Napoles list disclosed by former senator Panfilo Lacson is shocking but has vital mistakes.
For one, the list which supposedly covered the period of 2000 to 2009 included Rep. Gerald “Samsam” Gullas of Cebu’s 1st district and Sen. Joseph Ejercito, both of whom were only elected last year.
The Benhur Luy list is a more accurate since it included specific details like the dates of transactions, the bagman/woman and the amounts given to the recipients. But the list is a bit problematic because the recipients hid behind aliases to avoid being identified.
Who to believe between Napoles and Luy? One undeniable fact is that both went to the government to escape culpability and seek protection from powerful officials who have everything to lose and won’t think twice about silencing them for good to make sure the corruption remains hidden.
Luy went to the government after losing out on a lucrative deal and his list included Napoles’ husband. The Napoles list was made after she repeatedly denied and evaded questions under oath from the Senate blue ribbon committee and disclosed to Lacson, who was classmates with Napoles’ husband.
Hence it is no small task to delouse, not to whitewash the two lists in order to arrive at the truth. One way of verifying the lists is to look at the disbursements made at the Department of Budget and Management between 2000 to 2009, a few years before current Budget Secretary Florencio Abad assumed the post. Incidentally, he was included in the two lists.
This is where the Aquino administration’s integrity will be tested and held up to public scrutiny. We hope the Department of Justice, the Ombudsman and other agencies tasked to handle the case will be fully transparent and accountable in showing the “smoking gun” list without diluting or compromising its contents.
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