Drilon hits continuous smear drive vs Legarda

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Franklin Drilon on Tuesday scored the continuous smear campaign against colleague,  Sen. Loren Legarda,  days after the May 13 elections.

Drilon, campaign manager of the administration-backed senatorial slate Team Pnoy, said the public should move forward from political mudslingings  particularly efforts to o discredit Legarda regarding  her Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth.

"I hope we can move forward now and put the political hostilities of the campaign period behind us.

"The Filipino people have spoken. We must now work together in pushing for the legislative reform agenda of President Aquino. There is a lot of work to be done to improve the lives of our people, especially the poor and the marginalized," he added. 
Drilon was referring to the second graft case filed against Legarda last Monday before the Office of the Ombudsman by a self-proclaimed public interest advocate who said the senator allegedly used a shell company to hide her ownership of a multimillion-peso mansion in Forbes Park, the posh village in Makati City.

In the complaint for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Louis Biraogo accused Legarda of failing to declare her  mansion in her SALN from 2007 to 2011.

Biraogo added that the Forbes property is owned by Loren Legarda and Associates Inc., a public relations firm that has “no employees, no operations, no business activities and no transactions” since its establishment by the senator in 1986.

He said Legarda identified the Forbes mansion at No. 40 Cambridge Circle as her residence in the invitations she sent in hosting a dinner for East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta in 2009.

Drilon echoed the statement of Legarda that the second graft case filed against her was another case of "black propaganda."

Legarda denied the graft raps and insisted that the Forbes property, owned by Loren Legarda and Associates, was reported in her SALN.

"That Senator Legarda reported her ownership of shares in the Loren Legarda and Associates Inc, which it turned out is the owner of the Forbes Mansion, is a valid way of reporting one’s assets in the SALN," said Drilon.