Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery Panfilo Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Detained Janet Lim Napoles’ camp came to former Senator and now rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson last month to “tell all” and left, among others, a file containing a “revealing” telephone conversation.
Lacson said the telephone conversation, was saved in a USB, which was among the files given to him when he met Napoles’ husband, Jimmy, and their two children sometime on March 24 or 25.
After the meeting, the former senator said, he immediately opened the USB and found out that it was a telephone conversation.
“Anyway wala namang value ito sa ebidensya kasi telephone conversation pero revealing. May mga revelations dun na medyo nakakagulat din,” Lacson said in an interview over DWIZ.
(Anyway, it has no value in the evidence because it’s a telephone conversation. But it’s revealing. There are revelations there that are a bit shocking)
He refused to disclose more details about the phone conversation when asked after the interview.
Lacson, in the same radio interview, said the USB, a draft and unsigned affidavit, and a list of names were just among the files and documents that the he received from Napoles’ camp.
Before the meeting, Lacson said Napoles, through a messenger, relayed to him that she wanted to “tell all” about the scam.
“Last month ‘yun. The husband and their two children came to my office after a messenger of Mrs. Napoles relayed to me na gusto niyang mag ‘tell all,'” the former senator said in a text message.
“Matagal din kaming nagusap nu’ng asawa n’ya at dalawang anak sa aking opisina. Ang sabi n’ya irerelay nila kay Gng. Napoles yung aming napag-usapan at babalikan nila ako…” he said.
(My meeting with the husband and two children was quite long. And he told me, he would relay our meeting to Mrs. Napoles and then they would come back to me…)
And based on the documents, Lacson said some more names were mentioned aside from those who have already been reported in the news like Senators Juan Ponce-Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
“Meron du’n. May mga pangalan du’n na hindi pa nababanggit sa media, maski sa mga pagdinig hindi pa nababanggit,” he said.
(There are names there that have not been mentioned yet in the media, even in the hearings)
Asked then if the three senators had the biggest “pork barrel” kickbacks as reported in the news, Lacson said: “Kasi wala pa ‘yung kumpletong documents. Ang masasabi ko lamang malaki talaga d’un sa tatlo pero mukhang meron pang mas malaki na hindi nababanggit.”
At one point during the meeting, Lacson said Napoles’ husband tried to contact her so they could talk directly.
“Pero sabi ko, hindi na lang muna s’ya kung talagang determinado ba sya. Kasi kung alanganin pa din s’ya na magte-tell all, useless din kami mag usap. Pero kung talagang sya’y determinado na at talagang buo na ang kanyang decision at kumpleto ‘yung mga dokumento, kumpleto ang kanyang narration, pwede kaming mag usap dalawa diretso,” said the former senator.
But noting the “gaps” in the narration and documents given to him, Lacson said he told Napoles’ camp to complete first the documents before they talk again.
He said he also decided not to inform President Aquino about his meeting with Napoles’ camp until the documents are completed.
RELATED STORIES
Napoles spills beans on Enrile, Estrada, Revilla – De Lima
Revilla ‘consulted’ Lacson on how he evaded arrest