By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
SENATOR Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., one of the three senators charged with plunder before the Ombudsman in connection with alleged anomalous use of Priority Development Assistance Fund, related Monday an incident that took place in December 2012, a few days before the conclusion of the impeachment of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Revilla said Roxas, who was then secretary of Transportation and Communicationa, invited him to a morning meeting at his residence in Cubao. From there, they went to Malacañang’s Bahay Pangarap, Aquino’s residence, with Roxas driving the SUV and he was seated at the back seat.
Revilla said Roxas had the license plate of the SUV removed.
At Bahay Pangarap, they were joined first by and Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and later by President Aquino. They were served breakfast and he remembered everything on the table: pan de sal, kesong puti, egg, ham, dried beef, fried rice and fruits. The main fare was Corona.
Revilla said the President appealed to him: “Parang awa mo na, pare, balato mo sakin ito. Kelangan ko siyang ma-impeach.”
Abad, he said, chimed in: “Let’s help each other, Senator.”
He said he replied: “Mr. President, I will do what is right. I believe that we should fight for what is right, and I will do what is right for the country.”
Revilla was one of the 20 senators who voted “Guilty” to the charge of betrayal of public trust against Corona.
Aquino and Roxas both confirmed the meeting with Revilla but they had different versions of what took place in that meeting.
Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said the President denied having uttered the words, “balato mo sa akin ito…”
Coloma said, “The President met with Senator Revilla to verify persistent reports that senators were being pressured by interest groups to influence the outcome of the [Corona] impeachment trial, and he asked the senator to decide the case on the basis of its merits.”
Roxas also issued a statement: “Senator Bong and I used to be in the Senate together. So, when he said he had some issues to discuss with the President, which included the cityhood of Bacoor and his being head of the Lakas Party, I found a way to set up their meeting.
“At the time, the President was not in Malacañang and was at Bahay Pangarap. So as not to disrupt the detail of the PSG and so Senator Bong won’t be inconvenienced, I personally drove him to Bahay Pangarap.
“He lied when he said that I removed my license plate before we went to Bahay Pangarap. I really don’t use an official plate. It’s not attached to my vehicle. I use a regular plate issued by the LTO. The people who have known me for a long time know that I have never used the 8 plate when I was congressman, the 7 plate when I was Senator, or the 6 plate as Cabinet Secretary. I have never attached such plates to my car.”
They are all lying.
Some of the details of each statement are true but purposely hiding the truth is lying.
Aquino was never shy about his desire to remove Corona as part of his reform agenda. Corona’s ouster was a major achievement for him.
Everybody knows they moved heaven and earth to get rid of Corona and the public applauded him for that. To say that Aquino did not meddle in the impeachment of Corona is a big lie.
For Roxas to say that the meeting was not related to the Corona impeachment is a lie.
Revilla is also lying when he said that his vote was about “doing what is right for the country.” He got his reward for his Corona vote for at least P50 million in the form of the Disbursement Acceleration Program. How did he spend that huge sum of money plus his other PDAF?
Don’t BS us about “doing right for the country.” You are lining your pockets with our money. That’s not right for the country.
You are all liars.
