Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago lashed out at former Senator Panfilo Lacson after she was named as among those on the Napoles list.
“Anyone can make lists. For the record, I never had dealings with Napoles,” Santiago said in a statement Tuesday.
“The Napoles list, if unsigned, has no evidentiary value at all. I repeat, Lacson is an attack dog of Enrile. The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that to allege is not proof. Where is the evidence, as defined in the Rules of Court?” she said.
Lacson previously said that he has custody of a list of those people who were involved in the pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Janet Napoles.
In a televised interview Monday night, Lacson said Santiago, along with Francis Escudero, Alan Cayetano, Gregorio Honasan, and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, are included on the list.
He has committed to provide the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee his list after it issued a subpoena for Justice Secretary Leila De Lima Monday to produce an affidavit of Napoles that also listed all those who benefitted from the scam.
Santiago said that she wants whistleblower Benhur Luy’s list to be obtained also because she believes it is complete with supporting documents.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer has received the backup files of Luy stored in the harddisk of a laptop computer that documented all the transactions of Napoles.
“I am pushing to get the list of Benhur Luy. I understand that the Luy list is substantiated by documents and details,” Santiago said.
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