Ex-Ampatuan lawyer faces NBI, denies alleged bribe try

The former defense lawyer of the Ampatuan clan in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case on Friday faced the National Bureau of Investigation and denied links to an alleged bribe try on some personalities.

Lawyer Arnel Manaloto and wife Jennylyn were questioned by the NBI for four hours over the alleged bribery, GMA News' Saleema Refran reported on "24 Oras."

Both denied owning a supposed notebook that allegedly contains the names of people who were to be bribed.

Earlier, one Jerramy Joson had linked the couple to the notebook that supposedly contained names of personalities the Ampatuans allegedly wanted to bribe to weaken the case against them.

The Ampatuans, including its patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., are accused of masterminding the grisly November 23, 2009 massacre of 58 people in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.



While Arnel Manaloto declined to speak to media, his wife Jennylyn was vocal in denying the claims by Joson, including that the entries were in her handwriting.

"In God's name hindi po sa akin yan, hindi ko sulat yan, wala po akong kinalaman diyan and I can prove that," she said.

The Manalotos' lawyer, Sheryl Centeno, said her clients are willing to undergo all forensic exams before the NBI to prove their innocence.

Joson had claimed that she was once a friend of Jennylyn's, and that she entrusted the notebook to Joson. Joson in turn gave the notebook to a lawyer for safekeeping.

A photocopy of the notebook shown to GMA News had contained names like Baraan and Richard Fadullon.

Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III and senior deputy state prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon had denied receiving bribes from the Ampatuans.

Meanwhile, the NBI plans to invite Joson in the coming days to show the supposed notebook. —Joel Locsin/KBK, GMA News