Two more congressmen admit receiving Palace ‘cash gifts’

Sun.Star: Two more members of the House of Representatives have admitted receiving “cash gifts" from Malacañang. One said it came during a breakfast meeting last Thursday with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and some administration lawmakers. Cagayan de Oro Representative Rolando Uy admitted receiving something from the Palace during the meeting with the President but said it was a "cash gift" intended for all administration lawmakers. Baguio Representative Mauricio Domogan also admitted being a recipient of a "cash gift" but added that it was not done in Malacanang. Uy in a radio interview said he thought it was normal and had nothing to do with the ongoing impeachment complaint against President Arroyo that was filed by lawyer Ruel Pulido. But Domogon was quick to clarify that the amount ranging from P200,000 to P500,000 was not a bribe but an "allowance." He said the money was not personally given by the President nor was it given during their breakfast meeting with Arroyo. Domogan said this was given inside the Batasan building before Congress went on recess. He claimed other congressmen who are not members of Arroyo’s Kabalikat ng Masang Pilipino (Kampi) party also received cash gifts. He stressed the money given to them was also not meant to "kill" the impeachment complaint filed by Pulido. The meeting that he and other administration congressmen attended at Malacañang was nothing more than an announcement of the President's programs in light of Congress's approval of the P1.227-trillion 2008 budget, Domogan added. Cebu Congressman Antonio Cuenco in a radio interview Friday morning admitted receiving an envelope containing P200,000 during their breakfast gathering with Arroyo in Malacañang last Thursday. But in a follow up interview by Sun.Star Cebu Friday afternoon the lawmaker said he was only kidding when he said there were cash gifts from the President. Presidential Management Staff director general Cerge Remonde in a radio interview Saturday said money may have changed hands during the Thursday breakfast meeting in Malacanang but it was not Arroyo who handed out the money but someone else other than the President. “That is a possibility but in so far as the President is concerned hindi kami nanunuhol (we don’t bribe anyone)," he said over dzRH radio, when asked about the possibility that someone “other than Arroyo" gave the money. He quickly added though that he “can only speak for the President." The lawmakers’ admission of receiving “cash gifts" from Malacanang was separate from the reported cash gifts also distributed to governors who also had a meeting with the President in Malacanang last Thursday. Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio, a Catholic priest, has admitted that a Palace staff member dressed in a barong tagalog handed him a brown paper gift bag containing P500,000 as he was walking toward his car. He said the bag, which had a handle, contained P1,000 bills in five bundles, each amounting to P100,000. He said the man told him he could use the money for the barangay elections or use it for "barangay projects." The President met with around 200 officers and members of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (Ulap) Thursday after a breakfast meeting with 190 congressmen, who purportedly received P100,000-P500,000 in cash. Misamis Occidental Governor Loreto Leo Ocampos, president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), said the leaders and members of Ulap and the LPP “strongly deny" the allegations that they were given cash by Malacañang last Thursday. “The report that Gov. Panlilio was given money was unknown to all of us. Maybe, just maybe, since he’s the governor of Pampanga, the President’s home province, he was given special attention," Ocampos said in a text message to reporters. Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno also denied in an interview with national media that he received something in exchange for signing a press statement criticizing the impeachment case against President Arroyo. Moreno was quoted as saying that the allegations on the Palace bribes are just another "ploy" by opposition officials planning to run for the 2010 elections. Moreno said he didn't receive anything during a reported closed door meeting with President Arroyo and he left Manila early to catch a mid-afternoon flight to Cagayan de Oro. He said at that time the meeting between the President and the legislators were still ongoing. Moreno said it's unfair for the opposition to make sweeping generalizations and that they should focus instead on attending to the needs of their constituents. Malacanang on the other hand branded Sunday as “non-issue" the “donation" that local officials reportedly received from the Palace last Thursday, shortly before the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo was transmitted to justice committee. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, in a text message to reporters, said the alleged “donation" should be a non-issue, going by the view of the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who has said he would get a donation from the devil and give it to the poor. “If as Gov. Ed (said), there is nothing wrong with receiving a donation, provided it is put to good use, a view reportedly shared by the late Cardinal Sin, then this matter should be a non-issue," Bunye said. Remonde, also in a text message, refused to comment on the alleged pay-off but called on the opposition to “leave President Arroyo and Speaker (Jose) de Venecia Jr. in peace." Tonypet Albano, head of Malacañang’s Office of Political Coalition Affairs, said no money was given to local executives in the Palace and his office does not give bribes of money for illegal use. Following the admissions, Senate Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., said Sunday Arroyo could be liable for bribery – an impeachable offense under the Constitution- if the reports are true that about 190 congressmen belonging to the administration coalition were given P200,000 to P300,000. “If there is one, two, or three congressmen who will stand up and admit that they received money to give due course to the impeachment case that was filed against the President, that clearly smacks of a bribery for which the official or officials concerned be charged in court," Pimentel said. He noted that the apparent attempt of Malacanang to buy the loyalty of the congressmen came after Anak Pawis Representative Crispin Beltran expose the P1 million to P2 million bribery offer of an administration operative, Francis Ver, deputy secretary general of Kampi, in exchange for endorsing the impeachment complaint. “It is obvious that some of our colleagues in the House of Representatives are just playing around with the impeachment process. This could only besmirch the integrity of the House because the impeachment process should be taken seriously." - Sun.Star