MANILA, Philippines — “Old news.”
This was how Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon branded the “malicious attacks” hurled against him by President Rodrigo Duterte during his briefing.
In his taped briefing aired on Saturday, Duterte has asked Drilon to explain his alleged ties with Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam; former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog; and retired police general Marcelo Garbo Jr., whom the President had linked to the drug trade.
Duterte made the remark as senators drew his ire for investigating the procurement of alleged overpriced medical supplies in 2020.
But Drilon said senators will not be distracted.
“We will not be distracted. We will not let distractions and disinformation prevail,” he said.
“All I heard is old news – the Napoles issue, Jed Mabilog and Gen. Garbo,” the senator added.
According to Drilon, Mabilog is his distant relative as a second cousin.
“I cannot comprehend why the President wanted me to explain my connection with former Mayor Jed Mabilog and Gen. Garbo. But what I can say is, there is not an iota of evidence that will link my name to illegal drugs,” he said.
In his briefing, Duterte also asked the opposition senator about who the “brokered” the sale of the Old Iloilo City Airport to Megaworld. Drilon hails from Iloilo.
“Who brokered the sale of old Iloilo airport? It was sold through a public bidding at P1.2 billion set by the Privatization Council then headed by the late Justice Sec. Raul Gonzales in 2007. The government’s Privatization Council at that time can very well explain this to the President,” Drilon answered.
“The site of the old airport represents now a booming Iloilo City. It is also where we built the Iloilo Convention Center. In case the President mentions it in the future, the Ombudsman had investigated it and found no corruption,” he noted.
“I do not have to defend what I did in Iloilo. Mr. President, ask the people of Iloilo. If all these malicious attacks are the price we have to pay for exposing the truth, then be it. We will face them,” Drilon further said.