Drilon: I’m not on Napoles’ list

By: Bong Lozada - 10 years ago

Senate President Franklin Drilon. PRIB FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—After Janet Lim-Napoles bared the names of 12 senators, and many more in the House of Representatives who are involved in the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, Senate President Franklin Drilon is unfazed with the dramatic development.

In an interview with Radyo INQUIRER 990 AM, Drilon stressed that he did not allocate any part of his PDAF allocation in one of Napoles’ bogus non-government organizations.

“I am not worried, I did not assign, not a single peso, of my PDAF allocation to any of Janet Napoles’ NGO’s,” Drilon said Thursday.

He added that all of the “substantial portion” of his PDAF allocation was given to only one NGO, the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“That’s the only NGO that I partnered with wherein we build classrooms worth half the price that government contractors ask,” he said.

According to Drilon, they have built around 1,600 classrooms using his PDAF allocation.

The Senate president also denied allegations that he personally knew Napoles, adding that it’s common for public officials to have their pictures taken and engage in small talk with people.

“What’s important is that I have properly implemented the use of my PDAF allocation, and every peso was accounted for,” the senate president said.

Drilon also gave some encouragement to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who now holds Napoles’ ledger.

“I have faith in her, that she will be rational with her actions and that she would not do anything with the list as of now, since, it’s all just a list,” Drilon, who was a former Justice Secretary himself, said.

“She must exert effort that she would not become part of the black propaganda.”