Senate President Franklin Drilon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — “Illogical” and “baseless” were how Senate President Franklin Drilon described his alleged involvement in the “pork barrel” scam.
Drilon’s name reportedly appeared in the records of principal whistle-blower Benhur Luy, who used to work for alleged “pork” scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
Citing Luy’s records, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Drilon was listed to have been allocated P5 million as head of the Commission on Appointments in 2005.
The Senate leader, however, refuted the report.
“Basahin muna natin ng husto ‘yung kay Benhur Luy. Malinaw na wala siyang sinsasabi na ako ay tumanggap ng kahit na ano,” the Senate leader said in a radio interview on Wednesday.
(Let’s first read carefully Benhur Luy’s (story). It’s clear that he did not say I received anything.)
“Ang sabi niya, may alokasyon ako, at ‘yung implementing agency daw ay ‘yung Commission on Appointments noong 2005. Eh paano mangyayari iyan kung walang alokasyon sa Commission on Appointments? At hindi naman siguro nagpapaconfirm nuon si Gng. Napoles o si Luy para sila lumapit, dahil hindi naman sila government officials,” Drilon said.
(What he said was that I had an allocation and the Commission on Appointments was the implementing agency in 2005. How could that happen when the Commission on Appointments did not have an allocation? Besides, Mrs. Napoles and Luy would not come (to me) because they were not up for any confirmation as they were not government officials.)
“Ito (inclusion) po ay illogical, at walang basehan (This is illogical and baseless),” Drilon added.
He pointed out that the CA has never been an implementing agency and that it had no Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel” funds.
“Kaya naman napakaimposible naman iyang alegasyon na iyan,” Drilon said.
(That’s why the allegation is so impossible.)
“Hindi nila sinasabi na tumanggap ako. Ang sabi nila may alokasyon, pero hinde nila sinasabi na tumanggap ako. Ni isang Saro (special release allotment order) o kahit anong kapirasong papel, wala silang maipapakita,” he pointed out.
(They did not say that I received (kickbacks). What they said was that I had an allocation, but they did not say that I received (kickbacks). They cannot even show a Saro or a single piece of paper.)
Though the report also mentioned about Drilon’s letter to Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad in 2011 supposedly requesting for P100-million worth of financial assistance, Luy’s laywer immediately clarified that the letter was just a draft and that no transactions took place.
Drilon said he was not aware of the said letter or who drafted it.
“Sinabi mismo ni Luy, meron daw silang ginawang sulat. Pero hindi ko alam kung sino ang nagdraft o nagsulat, but no transaction took place. Ibig sabihin walang kahit anong transaction, at lalong wala akong tinanggap na pera,” said the Senate leader.
(Luy himself said they wrote a letter. But I don’t know who drafted or wrote it, but no transaction took place. It means there was no transaction and that I did not receive any money.)
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