Senators want Ligot in-law removed from watch list

Senators on Thursday said Edgardo Yambao, brother-in-law of former military comptroller Jacinto Ligot, should already be taken off the travel watch list. Before the start of the day's Senate hearing on the alleged multi-million-peso military fund scam, Sen. Franklin Drilon said Yambao should be taken off the list because the Senate no longer needed his testimony. "When we made this request for him to be included on the watch list, we just wanted to make sure that he will be available when we ask questions," Drilon said. "But now, we have no more questions to ask Mr. Yambao, so we have no opposition to the lifting of the watch order if that's the decision of the committee," he added. Drilon suggested that the Senate should now coordinate with the Bureau of Immigration to have Yambao taken off the list. In response, Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Teofisto Guingona III said they would prepare the necessary documents for it. Yambao is the sister of Erlinda Yambao-Ligot, wife of the retired Army general. The Ligots are in hot water for their alleged unexplained wealth, including properties in the United States. Jacinto was said to have made bank transactions worth at least P740 million from 2001 to 2005 through Yambao. Senators earlier pointed out records from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) indicating that around P255 million in peso and dollar deposits were made to the Citibank, Metrobank, and United Overseas Bank accounts of Yambao. Yambao initially denied the said accounts were his, but when asked by Drilon during a hearing if he would agree to waive his rights to the accounts Yambao finally admitted that the accounts at the three bank firms were his. However, he insisted that he was unaware of the multi-million-peso deposits made to his accounts. — Mark Merueñas/RSJ/HS, GMA News