NEWSFLASH
ROCO, ENRILE, TATAD ASSAIL CHAVIT’S CREDIBILITY
Manila, Oct. 14, 2000 Several senators yesterday raised doubts about the credibility of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson as they pointed to discrepancies between his affidavit and the ledger he submitted to the Blue Ribbon which contained a list of alleged recipients of payola from jueteng lords.
Blue Ribbon chair Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. also admitted the committee members have yet to determine the authenticity of the ledger.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile pointed out that there were substantial differences between Singson's sworn affidavit dated Sept. 25, and the entries in the ledger. He said Singson claimed in the affidavit he collected an average of P30 to P35 million monthly from jueteng operators in Luzon. Based on this amount, Enrile said total jueteng collections should have been P770 million.
"But Singson stated that he got and delivered only P414 million. You sum it up and there are a lot of discrepancies. I still have many questions to ask Singson. We are not through with him. I have just started," Enrile said.
A study of the ledger showed that the biggest amount collected by Singson during the 22-month operation was P33 million and the lowest P4 million.
"Ibig mong sabihin hindi tama ang sinasabi mo sa sworn affidavit mo na P30 million to P35 million ang kinokolekta mo buwan-buwan? O gusto mong sabihin na hindi tama ang affidavit mo pero tama ang ledger na ibinigay mo sa amin?" Enrile asked Singson during the hearing.
Singson insisted that both his statements and the entries in the ledger were correct but failed to explain the discrepancies.
Enrile also said Singson claimed that he first deposited the money he collected in his own bank account because the money was just lying in boxes at the Fontana Hotel in Clark, Pampanga.
But, Enrile said, Singson later changed his statement and said the money was deposited in President Estrada's account.
"So, when is Singson being truthful, now or then?" he asked. Enrile also noted that Singson did not seem to have "full knowledge" about the contents of the ledger.
"He always answered my questions by passing it to somebody who is not present in the hearing so he can get away from the questions," he said.
Enrile vowed to expose more discrepancies in the documents submitted by the governor in the next hearing scheduled Tuesday. Opposition Sen. Raul Roco said he suspects the ledger submitted could have been fabricated.
"Everybody is relying on the ledger. All the answers are based on the ledger. The story on the ledger is it was prepared with Singson's participation by a certain woman and it was faxed to Singson and nobody until now has impugned that. It could be fabricated," Roco said.
Roco said he would have Yolanda Ricaforte, the auditor who Singson claimed prepared the ledger, explain whether the entries were correct.
Ricaforte is in the United States.
Majority leader Francisco Tatad said there were also inconsistencies between the records of the Commission on Audit and the statements of Singson regarding the release to Ilocos Sur of P200 million in its share of excise taxes from Virginia tobacco.
COA's 1999 report showed that of the P170 million advanced by Singson out of the P200 million share of his province from excise taxes, P141.768 million had been liquidated.
Singson earlier said that from the P170 million cash advance, he gave P130 million to businessman Charlie "Atong" Ang who delivered the money to Estrada. He said the remaining P40 million was used for the construction of flue-curing barns in his province.
But the COA report showed that most of the P170 million in cash advances were spent for provincial projects with P20 million each going to the construction of flue-curing barns in Cabugao, Sinait, Sta. Maria, Santiago, Galimuyod and Banayoyo towns.
"This report punches a hole in the governor's claim that he had diverted P130 million to President Estrada. It is simply not possible for him to claim that he had given P130 million away and at the same time for the COA to certify that the same money, plus a little bit more, had been expended on existing projects," Tatad said. "Unless the COA report is shown to be erroneous, we have no choice but to dismiss the governor's allegation against the President as false and unfounded," he said.
Pimentel also rejected attempts to introduce as evidence taped conversations between Singson and key players in the jueteng drama, saying this was prohibited by the anti-wiretapping law.
"What the law directly prohibits cannot be allowed indirectly," Pimentel said.
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