Bagatsing: I had nothing to do with pork barrel scam

Manila (5th District) Rep. Amado Bagatsing today reiterated that he had no involvement at all in the pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Janet Lim-Napoles and therefore should not be charged with graft before the Office of the Ombudsman.

"The graft case is bereft of any solid evidence. I will face the charges squarely and prove that this is pure harassment orchestrated by my political rivals," Bagatsing said.

The lawmaker said Napoles herself had issued a statement last year clarifying that she "never stated that Rep. Bagatsing received or authorized anyone to receive on his behalf to receive rebates or any commissions from the PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) transactions involving NGOs connected to me.”

      

In an affidavit, Napoles had tagged a certain “Mina Nieva” as one of her agents in the scam. "Mina Nieva got the rebate for the project implemented by the Technology Resource Center in 2007,” Napoles said.

      

Bagatsing said he has already furnished copies of documents to the Department of Justice to prove that the request for PDAF did not come from his office.

      

All the three documents linking him to one of Napoles’ bogus NGOs, the lawmaker said, did not use his office letterhead.

      

"One was printed on plain bond paper, the other on a generic House of Representatives letterhead, and the third on a letterhead bearing both the seal of Malacañang and the name of the House of Representatives," Bagatsing pointed out.

      

He also said the project involving him in the scam was only worth P800,000.

      

Bagatsing also disputed the claim of  Technology and Resource Center (TRC) director general Dennis Cunanan that he processed PDAF allocations from the Manila congressman's office that found their way into the bogus NGOs linked to Napoles. 

      

According to Cunanan, Bagatsing endorsed Napoles' Masaganang Ani Foundation for PDAF-funded projects. The endorsements were allegedly made in October and November 2007 or months after Bagatsing became a member of the 14th Congress starting July 2007. 

      

But Bagatsing countered that  the endorsement letters containing his signatures were forged. The lawmaker said forging of documents was the modus operandi of some people at the TRC to siphon the pork barrel funds of unsuspecting lawmakers.

      

Bagatsing also pointed out the purported inconsistencies in Cunanan's allegations against him. He said Cunanan had first claimed that P8 million in the lawmaker's PDAF was coursed through the TRC. But later on, Cunanan reportedly wrote an apology letter to Bagatsing, saying that the amount was only P800,000. However, in the allegedly forged endorsement letters of Bagatsing, the amount involved P1 million. 

      

Bagatsing has already declared his intention to run as Manila Mayor in next year's election.

      

The Manila solon said he is not a member of the ruling coalition led by the  Liberal Party but he supported President Benigno Aquino III and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, who ran as vice president, during the 2010 elections.

      

He said he believes his political adversaries may be working behind the scenes to discredit him ahead of the elections.

      

"The people of Manila know that have not enriched myself in office. I am not corrupt." – End-