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P1.3-B budget for rivers went to Arroyo admin's campaign, Drilon says


Some P1.3 billion of the 2010 national budget allocated for the dredging of rivers all over the country was used by the Arroyo administration for the May 10 elections, Sen. Franklin Drilon said Wednesday. Drilon said P1.324 billion was released in a period of one week — from Feb. 18, 2010 to Feb. 26, 2010 — to de-silt, dredge, and re-channel rivers in provinces just a few months before the elections. “To me, this was clearly used in the election. The circumstantial evidence in law is there. There is reason to believe that it was not used for the purpose intended," said Drilon, a lawyer by profession and chairman of the Senate finance committee. Elena Bautista-Horn, spokesperson of former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, virtually denied Drilon’s accusation, saying they are not aware of any budget for rivers diverted to Arroyo’s campaign kitty in the last elections. “We don’t know what they’re talking about. Hindi namin alam kung saan galing ‘yun (We don’t know where the basis of that accusation comes from)," Bautista-Horn told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. She said they would not even issue a formal statement or make a specific move regarding Drilon’s allegations since “we know nothing about it." Drilon, a party-mate of President Benigno Aquino III, said the rush in releasing P370 million in one day to Romblon, one of the eight provinces where river dredging was supposed to be conducted, was highly suspicious. “Why was there such a hurry?" he asked. Drilon said the difficulty in monitoring the accomplishments of river dredging projects makes such endeavor a “rich source" of corruption. “You cannot measure how deep the dredging went," he said. He said he’s not sure whether the Senate will conduct a inquiry into the issue, but noted that they would “go deeper and dig deeper" into the issue. Drilon said he plans to monitor the P18.5 billion dredging project of the Laguna Lake. “We are not necessarily opposed to this project, but we want to make sure that it is properly done," he said. - with Jerrie M. Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV

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