MANILA, Philippines -- An administration congressman dared Senator Ana Consuelo Madrigal to produce on Monday her documentary evidence on Jose Nograles's alleged receipt of P114 million from Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor) and his alleged connection with ONL Consultants that helped in the multi-billion-peso credit facility.
“She should produce and make public these documents that she claims she has. She should do this not later than Monday to prevent any fabrication of documents,” said Nueva Ecija Representative Rodolfo Antonino, chair of the House committee on public order.
“Otherwise, I have every reason to believe that Senator Jamby is having periodic bouts of hallucination and needs to see her psychiatrist at the Makati Medical Center more often than she does. Anyone in her stature should be more circumspect before mouthing accusations,” he added.
This developed as a party-list congressman from the House minority said Madrigal's allegations against Speaker Prospero Nograles's brother were fit only for neighborhood banter in front of sari-sari stores or repartee with the village barber.
An-Waray party-list Representative Florencio Noel said Madrigal's alleged disrespect for the Office of the Speaker was an affront to the entire House of Representatives.
He said the opposition senator should have checked her facts before alleging bank executive Jose Nograles pocketed some P100 million in “legal fees” for facilitating a Land Bank of the Philippines loan in the amount of P5 billion to the Quedancor in 2004.
“Senator Madrigal's action is not fit for her stature as Senator of the Republic. Public hearings are not barbershops and sari-sari store drinking bouts where people can just exchange gossip based on hearsay and speculations,” Noel said.
“What she did was very reckless and irresponsible,” Noel said.
Madrigal appears to have stirred the members of the House, even those from the minority, after she said Jose Nograles pocketed attorney's fees from the Quedancor and Landbank transaction when he wasn't even a lawyer.
“(Senator Juan Ponce) Enrile was correct when she described Senator Madrigal as a purveyor of falsehood. Now she's at it again, making accusations without a speck of evidence to prove her claim,” said Noel's colleague in the minority, Anak Mindanao Rep. Mujiv Hataman.
“Her attack on the family of Speaker Nograles is another Jamby Mardi Gras, a mere spectacle to get media attention. She should focus on joining raids by the Optical Media Board, it also gives her exposure without ruining the lives of people who don't go around running after some inheritance to make a living,” Hataman added.
From the ranks of the administration coalition, Deputy Majority Leader Crispin Remulla said Madrigal violated inter-chamber courtesy between the Senate and the House when she mentioned Speaker Nograles's name to make a supposedly unverified allegation of wrongdoing.
“With due respect to Senator Madrigal, I believe that it was very reckless for her to mention the name of Speaker Nograles in a public hearing by the Senate without even bothering to spend some time to research what she is talking about,” Remulla said.
Remulla, a lawyer, said Madrigal could have easily checked the Internet to find out if there was an “Attorney Jose Nograles” on the roll of attorneys that is readily accessible on the website of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
The younger brother of Speaker Nograles isn't a lawyer but an investment banker.
Remulla said Madrigal should have realized it was impossible for Nograles to ask for attorney’s fees or a notarial fee because he's not a member of the bar.
“She stepped over the line of the time-honored protocol on inter-parliamentary courtesy. Speaker Nograles represents the House of Representatives and it is very irresponsible for a Senator to be dragging his name in a Senate investigation without checking her facts first,” Remulla said.
“You cannot just destroy somebody else’s name based on speculations under the cover of parliamentary immunity,” he added.
