Napoles camp first approached Lacson for tell-all

Published April 23, 2014 3:11pm

(Updated 11:02 a.m.) Before reaching out to the Department of Justice, the camp of alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles approached former Senator Panfilo Lacson to express her intention to tell all on the supposed anomaly.

In a radio interview, Lacson said he met with Napoles' husband, retired Marine Major Jaime Napoles, and their two children where they presented pieces of evidence from the alleged scam mastermind.

"Binigyan nila ako ng mga dokumento at drafts nung affidavit. Ang mga events na ito na ginawa ni Ginang Napoles, naka-prepare sa isang sinumpaang salaysay. Bukod pa doon binigyan ako ng listahan ng mga involved na ayon kay Ginang Napoles [ay] listahan ito ng mga personalidad sa Senado at Kongreso," Lacson said over radio dwIZ.

He added that the Napoleses also gave him copies of special release allotment orders (SARO) documenting pork barrel releases, and a flash drive containing an audio file of a "revealing" phone conversation.

“Siguro kagulat-gulat din, parang 'Hello Garci' din. The least that you expect, 'yun ang maririnig niyo dun sa conversation na 'yun,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the Financial Executives of the Philippines meeting.

Lacson was referring to the controversial wiretapped phone conversation between a woman presumed to be then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and a man believed to be former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano about vote rigging in the 2004 elections.

Lacson, however, said he was not convinced that Mrs. Napoles was revealing the whole truth in the evidence her camp presented to him.

"Sabi ko, hindi ako abogado pero mukhang hindi ito tell-all. Sabi ko, huwag nila munang isipin 'yung kanyang depensa kasi parang merong halong legal defense... Hindi nga kumpleto kaya nga ang sabi ko, kung talagang nakapag-decide na firmly na talagang magte-tell-all, isama lahat 'yung mga document at kumpleto 'yung narration," said Lacson, who is now in charge of the rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda.

On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima announced that Napoles offered herself as a state witness and vowed to "come clean" about the alleged anomaly.

De Lima also said that Napoles corroborated the whistleblowers' testimonies on the alleged involvement of Senators Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile in the supposed anomaly.

‘Quorum’

A source from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), meanwhile, told GMA News that Napoles has tagged 19 other senators in the pork barrel anomaly.

Lacson said based on the documents presented to him by Napoles' camp, the number of implicated senators did not reach 19, but is enough to constitute a quorum at the Senate.

Thirteen senators are needed to constitute a Senate quorum.

"Maraming pangalan doon. Hindi lang sa Senate, pati sa House. May mga pangalan din na hindi ko inakala na makasama doon pero nakasama doon," Lacson said.

“Sa House mahaba ang listahan. There are names that you won't expect to be there. Merong hindi masyadong maingay, merong tahimik, basta halo-halo doon,” he said.

Asked if the Senate leadership was included in the list, Lacson laughed then said it was like asking if Senate President Franklin Drilon is involved.

“Basta't kung me ebidensiya at dokumento...pambihira 'yung tanong mo, parang tinanong mo kung kasama si Senate President Drilon,” he told a reporter.

“Kailangan 'yung dokumento kasi mahirap magsabi kasi say-so 'yun e. That's a mere say-so coming from Ms. Janet but I'm sure hindi naman niya isusulat 'yun doon kung wala siyang basehan,” Lacson said.

He added that he was the one approached by the Napoles camp because they were certain he was not involved in the alleged anomaly.

"Ako lang 'yung sinasabi nila na talagang walang transaction. 'Yun ang pangunahin nilang dahilan kung bakit ako talaga," said Lacson, who had foregone his pork barrel funds since 2002.

Although his meeting with Napoles did not push through, he was glad that the camp of the businesswoman turned to De Lima.

“Whatever we had in our past, I still believe na si Secretary De Lima is the right person na in-approach niya. Because (De Lima is) no nonsense. At least may assurance na hindi siya sanitized, 'yung ibibigay na information. — Andreo Calonzo and Amita O. Legaspi/KBK/KG, GMA News

Tags: bantaykaban, porkbarrelscam, panfilolacson