Former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. AFP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. has admitted knowing the man tagged by Janet Lim-Napoles as his pork barrel scam “agent” but denied he had any such transactions with the man.
“I know (Mon Arcenas) but he is not my agent,” Pimentel told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in San Juan City on Wednesday.
Pimentel said he knew Arcenas when he was looking into a legal case—the Banco Filipino case against the Central Bank—but not connection with his Priority Assistance Development Funds or pork barrel when he was at the Senate.
Pimentel said he once helped Arcenas’ employer, who was affiliated with Banco Filipino. The bank, owned by the Aguirre family, was shut down in 1985 due to its alleged insolvency. The bank took their case to the Supreme Court, which eventually held that the closure of Banco Filipino was illegal, and sued for damages.
Pimentel, then Senate minority leader, demanded that the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas stop “evading the settlement of its liabilities” to the bank (Banco Filipino).
“I was able to help (in that case)… And in the process, I met (Mon) Arcenas,” Pimentel said.
He was quick to add that the fact that he knew Arcenas “did not mean” he was “guilty.”
He said in the final list of those allegedly involved in the P10-billion pork barrel scam, Napoles herself had said that she did not know him (Pimentel).
“Which is true. I never met (Napoles), for one. But she also knows the person who is supposed to be my agent (Arcenas). But I have no agent. That’s not true at all,” Pimentel said.
He said his lawyers were filing criminal charges against “those who are responsible for malevolently charging (him) with (pork barrel) malversation either directly or through others.”
The charges, he said, would be separate from the charges his son, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, would also be filing.
The former senator cited Napoles, whistle-blower Benhur Luy and The Daily Tribune publisher Ninez Cacho-Olivares among those he would be charging “possibly” with libel.
“I don’t know who else (I will file charges against) because my lawyers will have to evaluate everything,” he said, noting that only individuals, not media organizations, would be made to answer for the “malicious” charges against him.
He did not give a timeline or place where the charges would be filed, saying these would depend on his lawyers.—With Louie Rivera, trainee