Drilon on plunder case: A demolition job

MANILA, Philippines - Senate President Franklin Drilon yesterday described the P65-million plunder charges filed against him as a demolition job meant to destroy his reputation.

“This was part of efforts to dishonor me and make me appear crooked and morally incapable to handle the pork barrel scam issue as Senate President,” Drilon said in a statement posted on his Twitter account.

Former Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr. on Monday filed the complaint against Drilon before the ombudsman, accusing the Senate President of involvement in the anomalous construction of a three-story building in Iloilo.

Syjuco alleged that Drilon, a former secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ), used his influence to award a project to a contractor without a public bidding.

He accused Drilon of receiving commissions or kickbacks from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), which was used to finance the P200-million project in 1991.

“They are all political harassments invented by certain quarters that are out to implicate my name in corruption and malfeasance,” Drilon said.

The Senate President claimed the case is malicious, baseless, and invented by Syjuco and his cohorts who are riding on the pork barrel controversy.

“Syjuco held grudges against me because he thought that it was I who caused his defeat in the last election when I supported his rival, now Rep. Arcadio Gorriceta,” he said.

In the complaint, Syjuco said Drilon should be held criminally liable for plunder for the alleged anomalous construction of the Iloilo Justice Hall.

“While everyone is mum over the irregularities and anomalies that happened in the construction and retrofitting of the Iloilo Hall of Justice, I now take this stand to bring to the attention of the Office of the Ombudsman the unlawful and indictable acts committed by Franklin Drilon in relation thereto,” he said.

Drilon defended

Julius Drilon said the charges against his brother are politically motivated and financially backed by somebody aiming for the 2016 polls.

“The bottom-line is, it’s all politics. Somebody is financing that. We know who, we know the adversaries and their purpose... We just laughed because 2016 elections is still far away to make such noise,” Drilon said in an interview yesterday.

Drilon, chief of hospital of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City, however, refused to name the politician.

“It’s also the overall tactic to divert the PDAF issue,” he added.

“Since 1988, my brother has been in the executive and legislative branches of government and he had done nothing to tarnish his record, so his detractors resort to this kind of gimmick.”

The senator, in a statement, stressed that the P50-million budget for retrofitting was not sourced from his 2012 PDAF but from the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“The arguments raised by Syjuco in his complaints are mere speculations and hearsay. The ombudsman should act on his complaints as soon as possible so as to clear my name before the public,” he said. – With Danny Dangcalan