Former Ampatuan counsel denies link to bribe try

MANILA, Philippines - A former Ampatuan lawyer said she is ready to undergo various tests to debunk allegations that she was involved in a bribe try on prosecutors handling the case.

Lawyer Sherlyn Centeno said this as she denied that her clients – lawyer Arnel Manaloto and wife Jennlyn – owned a notebook containing the names of those who purportedly received millions in bribe money.

“We are willing to undergo all kinds of forensic examinations,” Centeno said in an interview with GMA News.

Last Friday, the Manalotos went to the National Bureau of Investigation, where they underwent hours of questioning by a five-man team created to look into the allegations.

The Ampatuans are accused of masterminding the murder of 58 people, including 32 journalists, in Maguindanao in 2009. 

The killings, which stemmed from a political war between the Ampatuans and their close relative Mangudadatus, were considered the deadliest attack on journalists in recent history.

Manaloto used to represent the Ampatuans, particularly Andal Ampatuan Jr., the principal accused in the case.

One of Manaloto’s staff, a certain Jerramy Joson, recently surfaced and presented a notebook allegedly owned by Jennylyn.

Written in the notebook were the names of public and private prosecutors, among others, who allegedly received bribe money from the Ampatuans through the Manalotos.

Jennlyn wrote the names and figures, Joson alleged.

“In God’s name, that is not mine. That is not my handwriting. I had nothing to do with this and I can prove that,” she said in the same television interview.