Palace dismisses ‘pork’ king tag vs. Abad as speculation By KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMA NewsApril 25, 2014 2:00pm Tags: Bantay Kaban Malacañang dismissed on Friday as mere speculation allegations that Budget Sec. Florencio Butch Abad had tutored businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles on how to operate the pork barrel scam. At this point, we do not know the contents of Napoles statement and it is unfair to speculate. Let us wait for the evaluation of the DOJ [Department of Justice], deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told GMA News Online in a text message. The Palace official was reacting to a story published by the Daily Tribune on Friday which quoted a source as saying Napoles had pointed to Abad as the real brains behind the scheme. The P10-billion scheme allegedly involves funneling some lawmakers Priority Development Assistance Funds into fake nongovernment organizations put up by Napoles, with kickbacks going to lawmakers. Last April 1, the Ombudsman recommended plunder charges against Napoles and Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile for allegedly pocketing millions in their pork barrel funds through the said scam. The Tribune story came after Justice Sec. Leila De Lima said Napoles has committed to come clean and tell all about the alleged fund scam. The report also said Abads inclusion in the list of those involved was the reason De Lima had to talk to President Benigno Aquino III right after her meeting with Napoles. Valte, however, cautioned against the reliability of the source being quoted by the newspaper. Good to note that the story was based on statements of an unidentified source whose credibility cannot be tested, she said in another text message. Abad, on the other hand, told GMA News Online said he will issue a statement on the matter later in the day. The Palace, however, had earlier assured the public that administration allies will not be spared if they are guilty of being involved in the scam. —KG, GMA News gmanetwork/news/story/358331/news/nation/palace-dismisses-pork-king-tag-vs-abad-as-speculation
Posted on: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 10:49:46 +0000
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