Aquino turns tables, links Estradas to Napoles letter

MANILA, Philippines―President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday said that Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada probably knew more about the letter written by alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

After confirming the existence of the letter that was addressed to him, Aquino said among the people Napoles accused of harassing her was a retired general who was the head of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) during the term of Estrada’s father, former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

“(‘Yung) 4th paragraph baka dapat tanungin natin si Senator Jinggoy kasi nakalagay dito (As for the 4th paragraph, maybe we should ask Senator Jinggoy, because it said)…’Thereafter Atty. Levito Baligod, lawyer of the Luy family, together with the retired general Rodolfo Diaz, demanded the amount of P38 million from us (Napoles camp) through our lawyer Atty. Freddie Villamor in exchange of the dropping of said false charges and bad media publicity,’” the President said, quoting the letter.

“Ewan ko lang kung ito ‘yung General Diaz na dating namuno ng PSG nung panahon ni President Erap. So siguro mas may alam si Senator Jinggoy,” he added.

(I don’t know if this is the same General Diaz who headed the PSG during the time of President Erap. So maybe Senator Jinggoy knows more than I do.)

Past Inquirer reports showed that Diaz was assigned as commanding officer of Estrada’s Presidential escorts back in 1998.

Senator Estrada raised the issue of Napoles’ letter to Aquino on Wednesday during a Commission on Appointments hearing.

He asked Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, who has yet to be confirmed by the Commission, what the President’s action was but the Secretary said she could not recall. The Senator then asked her to produce the letter for the committee’s perusal.

Estrada is among the lawmakers accused of benefiting from Napoles’ pork barrel scheme. His family has been at odds with the President as they feel “singled out” not only in the pork barrel scam but also because of the election-related cases filed against them.

Aquino, interviewed by media at the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) Conference of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management at Diamond Hotel, said the letter was dated April 17, 2013.

“Basically sinasabi niya inosente siya. Matinong negosyante sila for the past 29 years. Inaapi sila ng NBI (National Bureau of Investigation),” he said.

(Basically, she is asserting her innocents, that they are decent businessmen for the past 29 years. And that the NBI is harassing them.)

He said he later gave the letter to De Lima who is in charge, as Justice Secretary, of the pork barrel scam investigation.

Another passage from Napoles’ letter read, “We are decent law-abiding citizens all our lives. We are not kidnappers. We are not criminals. My family and I are legitimate businessmen. We have been engaged in the business for the past 29 years and the main reason for our success is because of the trust and integrity attached to our good name.”

Aquino called the letter “self-serving.”

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