Sep 062013
 
Malacañang on Friday accused members of the opposition of using the pork barrel scam issue for politicking.

At a press briefing, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said she’s “quite amused” by the recent “string of press releases” asking for the resignation of different Cabinet members.

“Hindi ko po alam sa kanila kung sino po talaga ‘yung mga pinupuntirya nila. But, in the past week, there have been more than three na binabanggit. Isa po, mag-resign daw, dapat liable, dapat ganito,” she said.

Valte was reacting to criticisms on how quickly the Palace has been supposedly clearing government officials linked to the scam, including Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, a close ally of President Benigno Aquino III.

“We have the ability to quickly discern what is a substantial allegation and what is an allegation borne out of politicking,” she said.

Other officials who have been implicated in the scam were Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

Self-righteous

Reacting to Valte’s statement, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said Malacañang was being “self-righteous.”

“Ang pinapalabas nila sila lang ang may karapatan to discern. Napaka-self righteous naman ‘yun. Ibig sabihin sila lang ang judge? Same COA report naman ang pinagbabasehan,” Tiangco, secretary general of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), told GMA News Online by phone.

He was referring to a Commission on Audit (COA) report detailing the alleged misuse of pork barrel funds by several government officials, most of them lawmakers. The report said Roxas, during his stint as senator, allocated P5 million of his pork barrel funds to a questionable non-government organization, the Kaloocan Assistance Council Inc.

“Bakit ang kakampi nila madaling i-absolve pero kapag kalaban nila (may) imbestigasyon?” Tiangco said. “Why don’t they just let the allies go through the same investigation?”

Documents

But Valte said they have documents proving the innocence of administration officials in the alleged scam, which has already resulted in the largest protest rally under the Aquino administration.

“At least we look at the documents. We asked the secretaries about it. Kasi alam naman po natin kung sino lang yung namumulitika at sino lang yung talagang merong pinanghahawakang akusasyon,” she said.

She asked their critics to take the COA report “in the proper context.” — with Marc Jayson Cayabyab/KBK, GMA News

Feb 072013
 
PNoy warns vs. 'fake' admin allies, takes swipe at Revilla

President Benigno Aquino III used a Liberal Party event in Cavite province on Thursday to take a swipe at politicians who he said are just pretending to be allies of the administration, a report on “24 Oras” said. “Paalala lamang po, asahan na po ninyong may mga nagpapanggap at may mga nakikisakay diumano sa ating krusada,” he said in his speech without giving names. “Matuto po tayong kumilatis ng mga susunod na lider ng bansa upang matiyak na aarangkada tayo sa katuparan n gating mga pangarap at hindi na kailanman lumihis pa,” he added. At one point, the president even said the electorate should not take their chances on “agimat” or “anting-anting (amulets)” — a statement that could be construed as referring to Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. and his family. “Huwag po tayong umasa sa tsamba o sa agimat o anting-anting,” Aquino said. Aquino gave the speech days after the opposition party Lakas-CMD said it is eyeing Revilla, an actor known in some of his popular movies as “Agimat,” as its standard bearer in the 2016 presidential election. Cavite is a known bailiwick of the Revilla political clan. Revilla’s father, Ramon Revilla Sr., is a former actor and senator popularly known for his movies about amulets. His wife, Lani Mercado, is the incumbent congresswoman of Cavite’s second district while his son, Jolo Revilla, is running for vice governor in the May elections. The “24 Oras” report by Theresa Andrada said Sen. Revilla did not directly comment on Aquino’s statement Read More …