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Pimentel: Opposition senators not connected to Marawi clashes


Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Sunday said that there is no intelligence report supporting the claim that opposition lawmakers are connected to the ongoing clashes between government forces and the Maute local terror group in Marawi City.

Pimentel noted that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, administrator of martial law in Mindanao, had already cleared his colleagues from such allegations.

“During our briefing, the ML administrator already stated that opposition senators are not in any [way] connected with the Marawi rebellion because they have no intel report to that effect,” he said in a message to reporters.

The comment comes days after Justice Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II asked the intelligence community to probe an alleged meeting of opposition lawmakers in Marawi City, ahead of Maute’s attacks there that started last May 23.

Aguirre claimed that Senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, along with Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, met with local leaders and former Presidential adviser Ronald Llamas in the city last May 2.

He said this meeting, which he linked to a destabilization plot against the Duterte administration, could have “sparked the terroristic acts in Marawi.”

Aquino and Trillanes have denied such claims, calling it “fake news.” Both presented records from the Senate and the House of Representatives, which showed that they were at the Senate on the day in question.

Aguirre later denied saying this, saying he was misquoted by the media. He eventually retracted his claim that Aquino was present at the supposed meeting.

Aquino—who went to Marawi last May 19 for a Go Negosyo event—demanded a public apology from the Justice secretary. He also said he was considering a legislative probe and legal action against Aguirre over the false claims. — BM, GMA News

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