Abad says 'pork king' tag ridiculous

MANILA, Philippines — Budget Secretary Florencio Abad on Friday denied allegations that he was among the officials in the Aquino administration who was involved in the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam.

Abad decried in a statement the new label "pork king," describing him as a mentor of pork barrel scam operator Janet Lim Napoles.

"I've been called several names since I began serving in this Administration, but 'Pork King' is certainly the most ridiculous. It would in fact be funny if it weren’t such a blatant lie," Abad said.

Napoles' lawyer Bruce Rivera has been denying that his client is the real mastermind of the pork barrel scam, claiming that the scheme was already running when Napoles joined the operation.

Rivera hinted that the real architect of the scam is "most likely" a government official.

Read: DOJ can't sanitize Napoles' list -lawyer

Abad, meanwhile, dismissed speculations that he mentored Napoles.

"These fresh allegations that I 'tutored' Janet Lim Napoles in designing the PDAF scam are simply not true ...Suffice it to say that I have never dealt with Janet Lim Napoles, much less acted as a mentor in executing her alleged schemes," Abad added.

He then vowed to continue to work for the campaign of President Aquino for a corruption-free government.

"There's a lot of wok to be done. We in the Department of Budget and Management and the Aquino administration will continue to fight for a government free of corruption, even if our transparency and accountability reforms run counter to the interests of some," Abad concluded.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has been criticized for releasing lawmakers' lump-sum funds to conduit agencies for fraudulent non-government organizations allegedly founded by Napoles.

Abad had denied that the anomaly occurred under his watch and passed the blamed on the previous administration.

He had also requested the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a probe on the alleged operators within the DBM. The DBM operators had allegedly been releasing fake Special Allotment Release Orders allowing the unauthorized release of funds.