The issue is public fund misuse – Palace

MANILA, Philippines - The main issue in Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr.’s privilege speech should be the proper use of public funds, and not “accusations and insinuations,” Malacañang said yesterday.

Reacting to issues raised by Revilla, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Revilla is accountable for the proper use of public funds.

“It is his duty to start explaining to our people how his PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) allocation was actually spent,” Coloma said in a press briefing at the Palace.

He added it would be best for Revilla to answer charges against him on the pork barrel scam.

“Notice that this (issue) does not involve just a few pesos but hundreds of millions… the Filipinos have the right to know how public funds under Senator Revilla’s PDAF were utilized,” Coloma said.

Corona impeachment

The Palace confirmed the meeting between the President and Revilla in the official presidential residence but denied exerting pressure on the lawmaker and the Senate, as an impeachment court, to convict then chief justice Renato Corona.

Coloma noted that Aquino never told Revilla to vote for Corona’s conviction.

“There’s nothing like that,” he said in Filipino.

He said that since there were “forces” moving to get Corona acquitted, the President sought to find out who were behind such moves.

He said the President’s decision was understandable as he only saw the need to find who were these forces and decided it was best to speak with Revilla.

“Since impeachment is a political process, there were forces that moved and the President ‘decides and acts’ on his duties not in a vacuum but within the context of political events and political dynamics.”

Based on the recollection of the President, Coloma said the senator did not give any categorical assurance that he would grant Aquino’s supposed request, thus there was no agreement sealed that would show Aquino managed to influence the senator-judges.

Coloma said nothing was offered to Revilla during the meeting and that Aquino was acting based on the country’s political dynamics.

“The President met with Senator Revilla to verify persistent reports that the senators were being pressured by interest groups to influence the outcome of the impeachment trial, and he asked the senator to decide on the basis of its merits. The senator said that he will do what is right and he voted to convict then chief justice Corona,” Coloma said.

Asked if he could identify the other senators that the President spoke with, Coloma said he would ask Aquino.

On those supposedly pressuring senators to acquit Corona, Coloma said the impeachment being a political and not just a legal process was recognized, and the President was acting based on these circumstances.

He said without the President directly seeking to have Corona convicted, there was no way he could be accused of influencing another branch of government to obscure justice in his favor.

He said it would be up to the House of Representatives to see if the President could be held liable for what he did, such as subjecting him to impeachment.

Insinuations

Coloma also said the President deplored the unfair insinuation made by Revilla against his sister, Maria Elena Aquino-Cruz, and her husband Eldon.

Czech ambassador Josef Rychtar clearly stated that they were not in any way involved in the Metro Rail Transit project, wherein Filipino officials allegedly asked huge sums from a Czech firm for it to win in the bidding, he said.

On Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II being called “Boy Pick-up” by Revilla, Coloma said the Cabinet official would have a separate statement.

“Boy Pick-up” is a popular character of singer-comedian Ogie Alcasid in the gag show Bubble Gang.

Coloma said there was nothing clandestine about the meeting at the Bahay Pangarap as it is the President’s official residence.

There had been other instances when the senator met with Aquino, he added. 

De Lima: Evidence vs Bong strong

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday maintained that the evidence against Sen. Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. was enough basis to file charges against him before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the multi-million pork barrel scam.

Reacting to Revilla’s privilege speech wherein he belittled the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)’s “truckload” of evidence against him, she said it could be part of the strategy of the lawmaker to insult the efforts of those who investigated the case.  â€“ Edu Punay