Sen. Franklin Drilon (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday downplayed as “fake news intended to harass the opposition” the accusation that he received campaign contribution from alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.
“We deny having received any campaign contribution from Napoles,” Drilon said in a message to INQUIRER.net. “We have submitted our Statements of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE), which are open for public scrutiny.”
“We will not further comment on such obviously fake news intended to harass the opposition,” he added.
In an interview with broadcaster Erwin Tulfo last Saturday, of which some parts were aired Monday on PTV-4, Napoles claimed she made a campaign donation to Drilon amounting to P5 million during the 2010 presidential elections.
“Kilala niya [Drilon] po ako. At sa katunayan po nagbigay po ako ng donations nung election, nung tumakbo po siya nung 2010 elections,” Napoles told Tulfo.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said this allegation should be investigated.
“Leave it to the DOJ [Department of Justice] but there should be an investigation,” he said in a text message. “Let the process of accountability begin.” /atm