Abad: I’m no ‘pork’ king

MANILA, Philippines - Suddenly thrust into the center of the pork barrel controversy, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad yesterday denied being the architect of bogus foundations and mentor of alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

“These fresh allegations that I tutored Napoles in designing the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) scam are simply not true. I’ve been called several names since I began serving in this administration, but ‘pork king’ is certainly the most ridiculous,” Abad said in a statement.

“It would in fact be funny if it weren’t such a blatant lie,” he added.

A newspaper report picked up by several broadcasting stations yesterday said Abad, a former Batanes congressman, and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, former Quezon congressman, were among several public officials implicated by Napoles in the multibillion-peso anomaly.

The daily cited a source who quoted Napoles as saying that Abad and Alcala were directly involved – with the former releasing the funds for senators and congressmen and the latter taking charge of the implementation of the projects.

“At the moment, these are all speculations, and until I receive a copy of Ms. Napoles’ affidavit, I cannot comment properly on the matter,” Abad said.

“Suffice it to say that I have never dealt with Napoles, much less acted as a mentor in executing her alleged schemes,” Abad said.

The Liberal Party stalwart, who is a close friend of President Aquino, vowed that the Department of Budget and Management will continue “to fight for a government free of corruption, even if our transparency and accountability reforms run counter to the interests of some.”

No meeting about Napoles

Alcala also denied yesterday any involvement in the pork barrel fund scam, saying his reported inclusion in Napoles’ affidavit is baseless.

He also denied having been summoned by President Aquino on Tuesday regarding the affidavit.

Alcala said he met with President Aquino that day but only to discuss preparations for the upcoming state visit of US President Barack Obama.

“The President and I did not talk about Napoles’ testimony,” he said.

Alcala believes there is no effort on the part of Malacañang to sanitize or manipulate the content of Napoles’ testimony amid speculations that the Palace is moving to cleanse the affidavit of the names of Aquino’s allies.

Diversionary tactic

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. expressed disbelief over the claim that Abad was one of the authors of the pork barrel scam.

“That is a very hollow allegation. Butch Abad was a nobody in Congress when this scam started and flourished in the previous administration,” Belmonte said.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said reports claiming that Abad was the main author of the irregularity “are part of a grand design to confuse the public and divert the real issue from the true perpetrators of the crime.”

“The public should be forewarned about these machinations. Those behind it will try every opportunity to bring the pork barrel anomaly issue to the doorsteps of Malacañang to deflect attention away from their principals,” he said.

Evardone said public relations handlers of the real scammers must have concocted the “wild” accusation against Abad.

“Their strategy is to spread the mud and make everyone a suspect. I think the people will not fall for this tactic because they know better, and they now know who stole their money,” he added.

Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Dasmariñas City in Cavite said the reports naming Abad as one of the masterminds of the pork barrel scam “are unbelievable.”

“Secretary Abad became budget chief in 2010 under President Aquino. How could he have been behind the scam, which, according to Mrs. Napoles, has been going on since year 2000? This accusation is clearly a hatchet job against him and the Aquino administration,” he said.

Barzaga noted that scam whistle-blowers led by Benhur Luy have not linked the budget chief to the irregularity.

Luy and other witnesses have implicated Abad’s undersecretary Mario Relampagos and three of his staff members.

But Justice Secretary Leila de Lima recently told reporters that there was “no solid evidence yet” against Relampagos. – With Jess Diaz, Czeriza Valencia