BY ELLEN TORDESILLAS
THERE’S a politician I know who welcomes people having a picture taken with him marking them perhaps as a potential vote come Election Day.
In a few parties that I attended where Vice President Jejomar Binay was a guest, I noticed that he was always accompanied by a photographer. The VP gives out the website where one can view the photos.
But with the Janet Lim Napoles, alleged pork barrel scam queen exploding and dragging with her known political personalities, just being seen with her is a nightmare.
Malacañang is downplaying the importance of the picture of the luxury-loving Jeane Napoles with President Aquino which Malacañang has confirmed to be authentic.It was taken after the national thanksgiving mass for the canonization of San Pedro Calungsod in Cebu November last year.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said,“I understand the photo was taken at an event last November in Cebu. She had her photo taken with the President, as did a dozen other people who lined up to have their photo taken with him.”
Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Secretary Ricky Carandang also said, “I can confirm that there was an event that the President attended and there were 100 to 200 people there and at least a dozen people had their picture taken with him.Now we looked at the record, it seems Jeane Napoles was there and had her picture taken.”
Carandang said, “It’s no big deal.”
Monday,photos of Senate President Franklin Drilon with Napoles and her husband Jaime Napoles, a retired Marine officer, was the social media’s main menu.
Drilon has issued a statement that can thus be summarized: “A picture does not make a story.”
Drilon’s statement:”There is a clear effort to implicate me as guilty by association with the picture shown last night on television. Let me make it very clear that none of my PDAF allocations was ever assigned or given to any project of this Napoles or any of her NGOs. You can go through the DBM and COA websites and you can go through it with a fine comb and you will not see a single peso of my PDAF being assigned to any of the Napoles NGOs.
“The NGO that I work with is the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry where I have assigned a substantial portion of the PDAF to build classrooms all over the country at half the cost of government contractors and this is to fill in the gap at that time of the classroom shortage.
“ So, I have dealt with the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, this is the NGO that I am working with to build classrooms all over the country. A substantial portion of my PDAF also goes to the indigent patients in National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine General Hospital, Philippine Heart Center, Children’s Hospital and other government services where indigents would avail of this PDAF, none of the Napoles NGOs.
“Insofar as that picture is concerned, Mrs. Drilon and I were invited to a dinner. Mrs. Drilon, being an active church worker, was invited because the guests were seminarians from China who were here on a study tour. I repeat, these were Chinese seminarians who were here on a study tour. And, there were also orphans and street children who were beneficiaries of a church-led feeding program. Yes, we were there. Pictures were taken.
“But ang importante po ay walang piso ng aking PDAF ay nagpunta sa mga NGOs ni Jenny Napoles. Puwedeng mayroon pang lalabas ng ibang pictures kasi nakikita ko rin siya sa ibang social gatherings, there can be other pictures because I had seen her in other gatherings but you know, kami naman mga politico ay marami nag papapicture sa amin at hindi naman naming tinatanong kung “sino ka ba.” And I did not know the business of Ms. Napoles when all of these were happening. So, this is the situation. As I said, there is a clear effort to implicated me and make me appear as guilty by association. I reject such implication.”
