Malacañang tells Revilla: Stick to case

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda to Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. (inset): Stick to case. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Wednesday lambasted Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. for demanding that President Aquino and his Cabinet subject themselves to a lifestyle check.

Speaking in his regular media briefing, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda questioned the “relevance” of Revilla’s challenge in the light of the senator’s alleged involvement in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

“Maybe it is better if he straightens out his case,” Lacierda said, using the Filipino term “pandayin,” and alluding to the senator’s movie role as “Panday,” or blacksmith.

Lacierda looked incredulous that Revilla would even raise the issue of a lifestyle check in connection with the plunder case filed against him in the Office of the Ombudsman.

“Let us say all of us passed a lifestyle check, will it improve his credibility? It doesn’t. It’s irrelevant. So what is the point?” Lacierda argued. “It is irrelevant to the issue that surrounds him.”

Revilla called for a lifestyle check on the President and his official family after he was dared to submit himself to one by Dennis Cunanan, the head of Technology Resource Center.

Cunanan is among those implicated in the pork barrel scam. He is applying to become a state witness, volunteering to divulge how his agency was allegedly used to channel huge amounts in Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to bogus nongovernment organizations.

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