MANILA, Philippines - Manila Vice Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso admitted on Friday that he is personally close to "Ma'am Arlene," the so-called Janet Lim-Napoles of the judiciary.
"She's my friend... Yes, we're close," Domagoso said on ANC's Headstart, explaining that Ma'am Arlene" is his neighbor in Tondo, Manila.
But Domagoso denied that he has done any business with the alleged Napoles of the judiciary.
"She's not working with the government. She doesn't contract with the government. She works for the private sector," the Manila official said.
“Ma’am Arlene†reportedly wields influence in the judiciary the way Napoles, the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind, influenced lawmakers.
Jarius Bondoc wrote in his Oct. 7 column in The STAR that the controversial woman “is notorious as a fixer of cases, with investigators, prosecutors and magistrates, mostly in Metro Manila.â€
He wrote that "Ma'am Arlene" allegedly throws birthday parties for Court of Appeals justices and trial court judges, finance their foreign trips, and provide them expensive gifts when they ask some.
“If Napoles controls Congress, Ma’am Arlene allegedly ‘owns the judiciary,’†Bondoc wrote.
But when asked of his reaction if he is dragged into the controversy, Domagoso said: "Ang kasalanan ba ni Pedro ay kasalanan ni Juan?"
Domagoso added that he has nothing to hide.
"Alam niyo, maigi pa once and for all, kasuhan niyo. Para naman maipaglaban niya yung sarili niya sa husgado," he said.
Read: A Napoles in the judiciary? | Just call her Ma’am Arlene, the Judiciary’s Napoles