Aquino: Napoles' lists inconsistent

MANILA, Philippines — President Benigno Aquino III said he had seen the supposed lists prepared by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles implicating other senators and officials in the pork barrel scam.

In an interview with reporters at the sidelines of the 23rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, the President said the lists that he had seen were inconsistent.

"I think I've seen — 'yung physically seen — I've seen two. And they don't agree with each other exactly. And they both supposed to have come from Mrs. Napoles," Aquino said in his interview with media, which was shown on television newscasts.

The President said rehabilitation czar and former Senator Ping Lacson had also told him that Napoles' family also gave him another list of officials allegedly involved in embezzlement of pork barrel funds funneled to bogus foundations of Napoles.

Last month, Napoles met with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and gave a "tell-all" sworn statement detailing everything she knows about the scam that she purportedly masterminded.

In her affidavit, Napoles supposedly tagged more senators and officials including allies of the Aquino administration. De Lima said Napoles confirmed the involvement of Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile as well as Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, the officials indicted by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the scam.

Lacson, a former senator who did not receive pork barrel funds, said the separate list given to him by Napoles' family contained the names of enough senators "to ratify a treaty," or at least 16 of the 24-member Senate.

Both De Lima and Lacson have yet to make public the contents of Napoles' list.

While he claimed that the list could destroy the Senate as an institution, Lacson said he is prepared to reveal its contents to the chamber. -Louis Bacani

Read: Ping ready to disclose list, but warns of Senate collapse