MANILA, Philippines – House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II on Wednesday slammed Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada for dragging his name into the pork barrel fund scandal.
In reaction to the explosive speech Wednesday by Estrada at the Senate, Gonzales said he had nothing to do with bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) and the alleged scam operator Janet Lim-Napoles.
House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II: No ground to suspend a member
“Let me make it clear that the charges against Senator Jinggoy [Estrada] and the others were not in connection with the COA (Commission on Audit) report…it’s because of the whistleblowers’ affidavit. I have not been mentioned because I [have nothing to do with] Napoles,” Gonzales said in a phone interview.
The Mandaluyong representative was among the lawmakers who Estrada, in a privilege speech Wednesday afternoon, said were being spared from the pork barrel controversy.
“Why is [he] is not being questioned? Dahil ba sya ay nasa Liberal Party (Is it because he belongs to the Liberal Party)?” Estrada said in his speech.
But Gonzales said he has devoted his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to the lone district of Mandaluyong.
“I spend my PDAF [for my constituents in Mandaluyong]. And I don’t use NGOs,” he said.
Gonzales said he understands what the senator was going through.
“It is just unfortunate that [the issue] is being tainted with politics,” he said.
Gonzales said that Estrada used the COA special report to malign him but it was the Senator himself who earlier questioned the validity of the report.
“He himself said there is something wrong in the COA report. He is saying it is not complete, erroneous…and yet he has used it as his basis [for accusing me],” the House leader said.
Estrada, in his privilege speech, said Gonzales accumulated at least P440 million as PDAF in his six years in office which included P275 million in cash advances without purpose and P6-million worth of meals from Jollibee.
Gonzales defended himself, saying his funds went to his constituents including the meals from Jollibee.
He said the senator tried to show that the P6 million was a single transaction when in fact the COA report recorded about 196 transactions in a span of several years.
Gonzales said his office is also in the process of validating the COA report as the commission had granted their request for copies of the pertinent documents used in the report.
He also said “non-confirmation” of suppliers involved in his PDAF releases, as reported by COA, did not necessarily mean they rejected that there was any transaction.
“It just means…they did not reply,” he said, adding that there were suppliers who also confirmed.