In his privilege speech to the Senate Wednesday, Senator Jinggoy Estrada claimed that senators who voted to convict former Chief Justice Renato Corona received a Php50 million incentive, prompting a former senator to confirm and a cabinet secretary to deny its existence.
Former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, in an interview with The Philippine Inquirer, confirmed that the additional funds for the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, was given to senators after Corona was convicted.
Lacson was one of the 20 senators who voted to convict and ultimately remove Corona from his post.
He denied receiving the funds himself.
“I had no regular PDAF. I didn’t partake of any extra fund in whatever form and for whatever purpose,” he said.
Estrada also claimed that the funds were “provided in a private and confidential letter” from then finance committee chairperson and current Senate President Franklin Drilon.
Lacson said he was unaware that it existed, and denied knowing which senators accepted the incentive.
Meanwhile, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad, who Estrada claimed knew of the incentive, denied that additional PDAF was given to senators who voted for conviction.
“We did not authorize any PDAF releases before, during and after the impeachment trial,” he said.
“This administration does not have policy of bribing anyone whether they are officials or private people,” he said.
Abad also distanced the administration from the existence of the letter that allegedly provided the funds.
“In the interest of truth, he could have substantiated his (Estrada) claims if he opened and read the letter instead of keeping it private,” he said.
Sen. Drilon later clarified that Estrada did not mean to insinuate that the additional funds was a bribe.
“Estrada said that he was standing by his decision to convict Corona and he was not influenced by any supposed incentive. He said the additional PDAF ‘came after the fact of the conviction’ ,” Sen. Drilon said.
Sen. Vicente Sotto III has asked the Senate to form an independent committee to investigate Sen. Estrada’s claims.
(with reports from The Philippine Inquirer, The Philippine Star, and ABS-CBN News)