El Shaddai's Mike Velarde not off hook in P200M road mess - Lacson

MANILA, Philippines - El Shaddai leader and businessman Mariano "Mike" Velarde is not off the hook in a P200-million "road to nowhere" mess that the Senate plans to investigate, opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson said Sunday. Lacson noted Sen. Ana Consuelo Madrigal had sought to look into businesses that would benefit from the construction of a stretch of road between Sucat and South Luzon Expressway. "Nag-file ng resolution si Sen. Madrigal para malaman sino may personal na pakinabang sa kalye, talagang mata-tackle yan. Bukod kay Bro. Mike sino pa ang individual na personal na nakinabang na tinamaan ng C5 extension? Yan dapat malaman din," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. (“Senator Madrigal filed a resolution asking to look into who will benefit from that road project, including right-of-way payments. Her resolution wants to find out who aside from Velarde benefited from that project.”) Velarde's firm, Amvel Land Corp. reportedly obtained a windfall from selling the right-of-way over its Parañaque property for the road improvement project. Madrigal's resolution stemmed from Lacson's expose regarding a P200-million double entry in the 2008 budget for the road between Sucat Road and South Luzon Expressway. Lacson said it is possible that Madrigal’s resolution and the one he and seven other senators signed to investigate the double entry will be tackled jointly. A third resolution by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano looking into "all" insertions made in the 2008 budget may also be tackled jointly, he added. "Mas mainam kung committee of the whole eh. Kasi iiwanan din yan sa decision ng majority kung anong committee mapupunta (It would be better if we tackled it as a committee of the whole. But it's up to the majority bloc to decide)," Lacson said. But he said Cayetano's resolution may be a ploy to intimidate other senators who made their own insertions in the budget so they would not support an investigation. Cayetano and Villar are party-mates at the Nacionalista Party. Meanwhile, Lacson reminded Cayetano of his campaign advocacy, as he chided him for trying to downplay the P200-million mess by saying P200 million is "loose change." "Ang battlecry katotohanan katapangan pang-election lang. Natatandaan ko pa sabi ni Sen. Cayetano maski barya o piso dapat busisiin. Ito P200 million sasabihin loose change?" he said. ("His battlecry was truth and courage. Now it turns out his battlecry was good only for last year's election. I even remember him saying even loose change should be investigated. Now he does not want to investigate where P200 million went because he considers it loose change.") He also said it was Cayetano, and not him, who linked Villar to the P200-million double entry mess by saying Villar would not be interested in P200 million. "Sila ang nagsasabi bakit kukunin ni Villar? Sigurado ba si Sen. Cayetano na si Sen. Villar na ang nag-insert at di niya pinaginteresan ang P200 million? Alam mo, ang isda sa bibig yan nahuhuli," he said. ("They are the ones claiming Villar would not be interested in P200 million. Is Cayetano sure that it was Villar who inserted the amount? You know, this is a case of the fish getting caught by the mouth.")- GMANews.TV