Cayetano urges fellow Senators to attend pork barrel scam inquiry,
view their presence as an opportunity to clear their names

"Attend the hearings and explain, if you have nothing to hide."

This was what Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said on Friday as he renewed his call for fellow Senators to attend the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the alleged P10-billion pork barrel scam.

Rather than thinking that their presence would interfere with the developments, he said that Senators should view their attendance to the inquiry as an opportunity to air their side and as for clarifications to allegations.

"I believe that their presence will not be seen as interfering with the investigation. On the contrary, they might be able to help shed light on the case," said the Senator.

Case in point was the way Senator Ralph Recto was able to ask for clarifications on information that his pork barrel was used for questionable transactions.

"Right after the COA mentioned his name, Sen. Recto was able to raise questions. This kind of exchange of information can be useful in unearthing the truth," he said.

Cayetano himself has offered to open his books to state auditors and vowed to answer questions about his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) if asked during the Senate investigation.

"Should any of my fellow Senators raise questions about how I made use of my PDAF, I will answer," he said.

And while Senators could not be questioned during such hearings, the Majority Leader said that they can always waive this rule and issued a challenge to his colleagues to attend the inquiry and submit themselves to questioning.

"We compel witnesses to tell us the truth. Why can we not ask for the truth from our colleagues? We should not hide behind the rules," Cayetano said.