MANILA, Philippines—Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada pleaded on Wednesday to spare her mother, former Senator Loi Estrada, from the P10 billion “pork barrel” controversy.
“She feels so bad, she feels so upset on what’s happening. I hope she’ll be spared. My mother has nothing to do with this,” he told reporters of the latest report linking her mother into the “pork” scam.
“This might be one of their plans to pin me down but I still have faith and confident that the truth will set us free,” he said in another interview.
Aside from his mother, more names have also been dragged into the allegedly anomalous disbursement of lawmakers’ pork barrel funds, including a certain Justa Tantoco and actor Matt Ranillo.
Senator Estrada confirmed that Tantoco is a “very close friend” of his mother but said; “She has nothing to do with this.”
“I don’t know why her name cropped up in the affidavit,” said the senator.
He also denied any dealing with Ranillo.
“I have never dealt with Matt Ranillo. I only know him because he’s also an actor. He belongs to the movie industry,” the senator added.
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