Opposition plan to probe Aquino buddies shot down

The plan of the House of Representatives’ minority bloc to investigate administration officials known to be close friends of President Benigno Aquino III is intended to muddle the issues against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, according to Malacañang.

In a statement issued early Thursday, the President’s spokesperson, Edwin Lacierda, said that Arroyo, now a representative of her home province of Pampanga, appeared to be afraid that “an independent Ombudsman” would soon be appointed, and that her “dwindling” allies wanted to “do something to deflect attention from their sorry record in the past administration.”

Lacierda added that it was “painful” for the minority lawmakers that “graft is not a flagship project of this administration.”

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile was unimpressed by the plan of House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman and company, saying that the senators would not follow suit.

“Good luck to them,” Enrile told reporters. “And I challenge them to go ahead if they know anything that we do not know so they can expose the truth. We will see who is telling the truth and who is lying.”

At the House, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. dismissed the idea that Mr. Aquino’s friends in high positions should be investigated for alleged misdeeds.

“I’m not saying that [the opposition lawmakers] should not [file the resolution seeking an inquiry]. I’m just saying they could have chosen something more original. I, for one, don’t believe the accusations and I think it’s just a smokescreen,” Belmonte said.

“[The planned inquiry] is less a political and more a psychological demonstration: that Mrs. Arroyo is running scared at the thought of an independent Ombudsman, and in response, she prefers to muddy the waters to evade accountability,” Lacierda said.

Rehashed issues

The proposed inquiry, which was announced by Lagman on Wednesday, drew a sharp response from the normally unperturbed Lacierda at Thursday’s news briefing.

“These congressmen … are presenting rehashed issues. Don’t they have anything better to do?” he said when asked for Malacañang’s reaction to the proposed investigation of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chair Margarita Juico, Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno and Land Transportation Office chief Virginia Torres.

Lacierda on Wednesday defended the cited officials and said all of them had been subjected to investigation for their alleged offenses.

Purisima, Juico and Torres personally reiterated that they were not liable for the purported misdeeds and expressed openness to further investigation.

“I’m challenging the opposition to be more diligent with their work. They just keep mouthing accusations,” Lacierda told reporters.

In his statement, the President’s spokesperson said Lagman was “testing the waters” in announcing the possible inquiry “on the basis of speculations pushed forward by naysayers.”

On the suggestion that the pro-Arroyo opposition might beat Malacañang in filing cases, Lacierda said: “We will file our cases when evidence warrants.”

“[These cases will] not be based on innuendos, half-truths and propaganda,” he said.

A given

Enrile said Lagman’s announcement that the opposition would file a resolution seeking the inquiry into the alleged irregularities was not surprising.

“Well, that is a given. You cannot have friends all the time. There are always people who, for one reason or another, will dislike you, or who will make life very difficult for you,” he said.

Still, Enrile said, he saw no need for the Senate to inquire into the purported irregularities involving Ochoa, Purisima, Puno, Torres and Juico.

The Senate president said that of the officials named by the House minority, he was most familiar with Ochoa.

“I’ve been dealing with him. … I have now been more than four decades in the government. I call him. He’s the alter-ego of the President. I can reach him anytime. He’s the most reachable person. If I cannot reach him, he will call back. I have not met any executive secretary like that,” Enrile said.

Good points

Speaking at a press conference, Belmonte said the House should not be used as a venue for political vendetta, to collect debts, and to make unnecessary charges.

He said that while the minority’s resolution seeking the inquiry had yet to be filed, he personally did not believe the accusations made against the five officials close to the President.

“Every single one has experience, has good points. Even the persons that are not mentioned, they are themselves performers,” Belmonte said,

He cited Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario as a good public official who was appointed not because of his close affinity to Mr. Aquino.

11 solons against probe

In a collective statement, 11 other congressmen said the move of Lagman and company was “totally unfair.”

“While we respect the right of the minority to call for an investigation of several appointees of President Aquino, we believe that we should avoid a witch-hunt that will destroy their reputation and integrity,” they said.

Those who signed the statement were Representatives Ben Evardone (Eastern Samar), Alvee Benitez (Negros Occidental), Luigi Quisumbing (Mandaue City), Allan Velasco (Marinduque), Maricar Apsay (Compostela Valley), Joy Bernos (Abra), Bolet Banal (Quezon City), Roy Loyola (Cavite), Mel Sarmiento (Western Samar), Roger Espina (Biliran), and Mark Sambar (PBA party-list group). With a report from TJ Burgonio