Press Release
September 26, 2013

Koko asks DOJ to drop Filipino welder
from P10-B plunder and graft charges

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III today asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to consider dropping the charges against an overseas Filipino worker (OFW), who was erroneously tagged as the president of one of the bogus non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by Janet Lim-Napoles linked to the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Pimentel said that Nemesio Pablo Jr., a welder working in Australia, was registered without his knowledge as president of the Agri and Economic Program for Farmers Foundation, Inc., owned by Napoles, accused as the mastermind in the reported misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of legislators.

Merlina Suñas, a former project coordinator of Napoles, told the Senate inquiry that she simply forged the name of her cousin.

Pimentel enjoined DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima to help the beleaguered Filipino by coordinating with the Philippine embassy in Australia to get the affidavit of Pablo, who, according to newspaper accounts, expressed surprise why he was included in the plunder and graft charges filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) with the Ombudsman.

He said that it would only be fair to Pablo to drop him from the charges, banking heavily on the testimony of Suñas.

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