Roxas laughs off P5-M extort story, backs NBI investigation

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines—Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, a scion of one of the wealthiest clans in the country, on Friday laughed off allegations that he had asked for P5 million from a rice trader whose warehouse in Bulacan province was raided by police last month.

“There is no truth to the allegations linking me to the supposed extortion. First of all, I don’t know Mr. Soliman,” Roxas told reporters, referring to businessman Jomerito “Jojo” Soliman.

“It’s annoying that my name has been dragged into this allegation of extortion against some individuals,” he said in a separate statement.

Far from dismissing the accusation as mere political propaganda, Roxas expressed support for the investigation being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation on Arthur Juan, the National Food Administration (NFA) administrator.

In a complaint he filed with the NBI, Soliman accused Juan and the latter’s assistant, Patricia Galang, of demanding P15 million from him in exchange for his business being allowed to resume operations.

He claimed Juan had told him that the money would be shared equally among Roxas, Kiko Pangilinan, the presidential assistant on food security, and the NFA chief himself.

“I’m giving my full support to the investigation of the NBI. We should know what really happened,” Roxas said.

“Since there’s a money trail, we should follow that trail and find out who owned the bank accounts. Were the deposits made? Is the money still there in the accounts? If not, then who withdrew the money?” he said.

“I will not let anybody use my name in their illegal activities,” he added.

Roxas stressed that he did not personally know Juan and that he had only met him twice when they held a meeting before the raid jointly carried out by the NFA and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Soliman’s rice warehouse in Malolos, Bulacan.

Pangilinan and Roxas led the operation, which the CIDG conducted after reportedly receiving information that Soliman was selling commercial rice mixed with animal feeds.

Roxas said he spoke with Pangilinan yesterday and the latter also denied the allegations.

“He said Juan was recommended by a search committee composed of (private individuals and groups), including the Management Association of the Philippines,” Roxas said.

Despite the serious accusations against the NFA officials, Roxas vowed to continue the government’s campaign against unscrupulous businessmen taking advantage of the current shortage in the supply of rice and other agricultural products.

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