Criminal raps await senator in double entry mess - Lacson

Criminal raps await senator in double entry mess - Lacson

.(Updated 9:20 a.m.) MANILA, Philippines - The senator who made a P200-million double insertion in the 2008 budget for a stretch of road faces at least one of two possible criminal charges, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday.

In a radio interview, Lacson said the P200-million insertion can render the senator liable for graft charges, or technical malversation of government funds.

"Kung naibulsa lamang, anti-graft yung kaso. Pero kung P200 million ginamit sa proyekto at di ayon sa nakasulat sa GAA, technical malversation yan (If the senator just pocketed that money, he or she faces graft charges. But if the P200 million is used for purposes other than that road, that amounts to technical malversation)," Lacson said in an interview on dzXL radio.

In a privilege speech Monday, Lacson said Senate president Manuel Villar Jr may have implicated himself in the P200-million "road to nowhere" mess by protesting too violently against Lacson's earlier disclosure.

Lacson also said that while he has not directly named Villar as the one who made a P200-million "congressional insertion" for the road project, the trail eventually followed led to the Senate President.

On the contrary, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr said the senator behind the double insertion in the 2008 budget is not liable for any crime.

In a radio interview, Andaya said the worst sanction that faces the senator who placed the insertion would be a case with the Senate ethics committee.

"Walang krimen yan. Siguro sa loob ng Senado kung tingin nila nagkaroon ng kalokohan sa loob, at the very least ethics committee nila (It's not a criminal offense. Perhaps inside the Senate, if they think there's any irregularity involving one of them, then at the very least, the ethics committee will handle it)," Andaya said in an interview on dzXL radio.

But he said the Revised Penal Code has no offense that covers the double insertion of items in the budget.

In the interview, Lacson also said even Malacañang can be held accountable for the P200-million double entry mess and other questionable insertions in the 2008 budget.

Lacson - who Andaya said should also be accountable for the double entry as he failed to spot it early on - said Malacañang could have vetoed it.

"Kung nakita ng Budget Secretary ang double entry sana na-veto ng pangulo yan. So lahat kami hanggang Malacañang may accountability. Bakit ako lang tinuturo ni Sec. Andaya? Lahat kami (The president could have vetoed it, if the budget secretary saw the questionable item. So all of us in the bicameral conference committee, up to Malacañang, should be accountable. But why is Secretary Andaya singling me out? All of us should be accountable)," Lacson said.

Lacson added that Villar and then-House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr may likewise be liable since they signed the budget.

For his part, former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said that while the incident will not likely drive away investors, it will dampen confidence in the budget process.

"Palagay ko hindi masyado. Pero ang masaklap diyan, mawawalan ka ng kumpiyansa sa ating budget process (Not that much, I think. But people may tend to lose confidence in the budget process)," Diokno said when asked if the double insertion mess will likely result in investor flight.

Aside from implicating Villar in the P200-million double insertion mess, Lacson on Monday also disclosed a a possible P50-million double entry for a bridge in Cavite and other questionable items in the 2008 budget, including billions of pesos in lump sum items.

Many of the insertions are made during the deliberations on the budget at the levels of the House of Representatives, Senate, and bicameral conference committees.

Lacson said that while he does not questions insertions by themselves, the "malicious" thing was in inserting a double entry and disguising the repeated insertion as a different entry. - GMANews.TV