PRESIDENT'S HAND IN DISTRIBUTION OF CASH GIFT
UNDENIABLE -- PIMENTEL

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said it is an undeniable fact that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had a hand in the distribution of the "cash gift" to congressmen and governors in Malacañang last Oct. 11 despite conflicting claims by her political allies about the source of the money and their efforts to shield her from the scandal.

Pimentel said Pampanga Governor Fr. Ed Panlilio was being polite when he testified at the Senate inquiry that he was not sure whether the President was involved in the giving out of the largesse - P200,000 to P500,000 to each of the congressmen and governors who attended the meeting.

"I think the source is no longer in question because the fact is that the money was distributed in Malacañang and everything that happens there is the responsibility of the person occupying the highest office of the land," he said.

In an attempt to cover up the role of the President in the Palace's payoff, Pimentel said her aides and allies have concocted different versions of the incident but it was apparent they were lying and merely looking for a scapegoat.

At first, Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. and the House of Representatives were pinpointed as the source of the money. Then, the name of the Lakas party surfaced.

Later, leaders of the League of Provinces claimed the money given to the governors came from the league's capability-building funds. Then a stalwart of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino admitted that the party gave the money to assist its members during the barangay elections.

Pimentel said if the money was intended for Lakas or Kampi members, then why was Gov. Panlilio given P500,000 when he was not a member of either party?

"As a matter of fact, you will notice from the testimony of Gov. Panlilio that he is not entitled to any Kampi funds because he is not a member of Kampi. He said so himself. So you tie the various points of his testimony together and the conclusion is inevitable that the money was distributed in Malacañang and illegally at that," the minority leader said.

"And since it was distributed in Malacañang, nobody else but the President is responsible, regardless of where the money came from because Malacañang is her exclusive turf. Nobody can just distribute money in Malacañang without the President's knowledge."

If the Malacañang lackeys would insist that the money was intended as aid to the congressmen and governors for the barangay elections, Pimentel said that would put them in deeper trouble because they have no business interfering in such political exercises which are non-partisan in character.

Moreover, Pimentel said only the President had the capability to mobilize and release such huge amount of money and had the motive for the alleged payoff.

He said Mrs. Arroyo had obviously intended to buy the support of the congressmen and governors in a bid to kill the new impeachment case against her, which was what actually happened.

At this point, Pimentel said what should be determined by the Senate investigation is the source or sources of the money - reportedly running as high as P120 million - and the government agencies and officials involved in the disbursement.

He said it is possible that the money came from the counter-terrorism funds of the Philippine National Police as claimed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson or from the President's Social Fund which is derived from the remittances of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

Pimentel said there are various other government funding sources at the President's disposal from which the cash gift may have originated - the intelligence, contingent and other discretionary funds of the President, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office which is not subjected to audit by the Commission on Audit, the proceeds of the road users' tax, etc.

Noting that the Bank of Commerce has already been identified as the bank where the money was withdrawn, Pimentel said the papers pertaining to the bank transactions hold the key to unmasking the real funding source.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has already summoned the officials of the Bank of Commerce to testify at its next public hearing on the case.