Ligot wife, brother-in-law show up for Senate inquiry

For the first time, the wife and brother-in-law of former military comptroller Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot appeared before the Senate blue ribbon committee on Thursday for the resumption of the inquiry on the alleged corruption in the military. Erlinda Ligot and her brother Edgardo Yambao appeared before the Senate panel after they were summoned pending questions regarding the properties they accumulated throughout the years. "As expected the hearing will be a Ligot show," blue ribbon committee chairman Senator Teofisto Guingona III said in an ambush interview with reporters.

Mrs. Ligot was accused of purchasing several properties in the United States, including a house in Anaheim (reportedly worth $504,000) and Buena Park ($183,868) in California. However, she has twice failed to show up before the Senate to explain herself. During the last hearing on February 24, she sent a letter though her lawyer to say that she was confined at the Veteran's Memorial Medical Center (VMMC). On the other hand, Yambao supposedly acquired P300 million in cash and assets from 1999 to 2004 despite being unemployed. Drilon said Yambao retired in 1999 and did not file an income tax return from then until 2004. With the presence of the two, Guingona said he hopes that Thursday's hearing will be the last. He likewise said he hopes the Office of the Ombudsman will file the proper charges against specific persons after their inquiry. As of posting time, the Senate inquiry was ongoing. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News