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Lacson eyes privilege speech to bare details of WB report


MANILA, Philippines - If the Senate is not keen on resuming its hearings on the mess involving cases of bid rigging in World Bank-funded projects, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson may bare more details of the anomaly in a privilege speech. Lacson said Thursday he is now gathering additional details of the World Bank report, which he maintained linked First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and politicians to the mess. "Isa yan sa mga options na iniisip ko pero kinukumpleto ko pa dahil ang hawak kong papel yung report ng World Bank, excerpts eh ... Siguro mas mainam na lang ma-inform ang ating kababayan by way of a privilege speech," Lacson said over radio dzXL. ["That is one of my options but I am trying to get a complete copy of the WB report. It will be better to come up with a privilege speech so I can inform the public about the details of this mess."] However, Lacson said he will not name the contractors who gave their testimonies, especially the Japanese contractor who linked the First Gentleman to the irregularity. "Kawawa ang mga yan lalo ang Filipino contractors, di na makakapaghanapbuhay yan. In fact may pag-uusap sila doon sa kanilang testimonya kung pwede pangalagaan ang kanilang testimony kasi paano sila makahanapbuhay. Yung foreigner kung lumayas na at least di maha-harass dito. Yung Hapon mukhang wala nang plano makipagnegosyo sa atin [dahil] sa experience natin, nagulat siya," Lacson said. ["The Filipino contractors in particular will suffer because they can no longer do business here. At least the foreigners have fled so they won't be harassed here."] Besides, he said Mr. Arroyo will not come out to admit to the corruption detailed in the report. The First Gentleman's camp had challenged Lacson to name the contractors. "Hindi naman natin ine-expect na aaminin din eh. Tanggi sila nang tanggi, wala silang inamin [We don't really expect anyone, including the First Gentleman, to come out and admit it. They had been denying this]," he said. The other contractors interviewed in the WB report, including Koreans and Filipinos, had also requested anonymity for fear of harassment. Lacson said the excerpts of the report he has now indicated that at least 10 people interviewed by the World Bank linked Mr. Arroyo to the mess. He said that for now, he has 124 pages of the WB report. He said the complete report is likely to contain up to 400 pages, including attachments. The excerpts, he said, showed at least two of the witnesses named Mr. Arroyo while the others named politicians, including a former senator. "Ang description ng Japanese contractor na nag-link kay Mike Arroyo at saka sa ex-senator, he used the language rough approach. Sabi niya itong dalawang kausap ko, referring to FG and the ex-senator, nagulat siya dahil napakagarapal daw magsalita sa bribe. Ang diniscuss nila sa bribe, they had a rough approach. Yan ang ginamit na term. Di ba nakakahiya yan? Isang senador, isang asawa ng presidente, garapal tungkol sa suhulan. Parang wala na raw tinatago," Lacson said. ["The Japanese contractor interviewed by the World Bank said Mike Arroyo and the former senator used the rough approach. He said he was surprised the First Gentleman and the ex-senator would shamelessly discuss bribes. Is that not shameful? A senator and the spouse of the president talking shamelessly about a bribe."] On the other hand, Lacson questioned Senate economic affairs committee chairperson Miriam Santiago for continuing to demand "evidence" linking the First Gentleman to the anomaly before resuming the investigation. "Bakit kailangan natin ng katakot-takot na testigo na kailangan mag-link kay FG lantaran bago buksan ang investigation? Hindi ba dapat magbukas ng investigation, review-hin ang batas at tingnan at tanungin ang resource persons tulad sa DPWH at na-blacklist kung ano ang kakulangan ng batas," Lacson said. ["Why do we need to muster so many witnesses to link the First Gentleman before reopening the investigation? We are conducting the investigation to review the law."] "It's her call actually. Kung gusto niya i-resume, i-resume niya. Kung ayaw i-resume, fine. Pero ang malalagay sa kahihiyan nito ang Philippine government, ang mga Pilipino. Talagang mahihiya ka na nangyayari sa Pilipinas yung talamak," he added. ["It's her call whether to resume the hearings. If she doesn't want to resume it, fine. But she should remember we Filipinos will continue to live in shame because of the corruption detailed by the World Bank report."] Meanwhile, the First Gentleman's lawyer - Ruy Rondain - in a separate interview on dzXL, challenged Lacson to come out with his evidence, including the WB report. But he said the evidence must be "competent" and will stand in court, and not just quote "Mr. X, Mr. Y and Mr. Z." "Kesa piecemeal, paisa-isa ang ebidensya na nilalabas ... Nung hearing pinapalabas niya wala siyang hawak, three days later sabi niya he has tons of evidence. Bakit hindi niya ilabas lahat yan [Rather than piecemeal basis, he should come out with all his evidence. He said during the hearing he had no evidence but three days later he said he has tons of evidence. Why not come out with all of it]?" he said. For his part, former Rep. Jerome Paras, one of the politicians named in the report, washed his hands off the mess. "My conscience is clear, my name is clear. [These are] totally baseless," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio. - GMANews.TV
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