SP Drilon Faces Plunder Raps for Bribery Over Corona Verdict

Senate President Franklin Drilon is facing plunder complaint for allegedly using government funds to bribe senators into voting for a guilty verdict on the impeachment trial of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, Gma news online reported on Friday.

A 42-page complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman was filed by former Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr. alleging in the complaint that Drilon used government funds from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) to “bribe, induce and corrupt lawmakers whom, by reason of their office, can ensure the guilty verdict in the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona and such other crimes or offenses as may be warranted in the premises.”

The online news reported the former lawmaker alleged that Drilon used more than P1 billion in public money “to facilitate his devious scheme of bribing and paying-off senator judges.”

Because of such act, Syjuco said the senator may have committed direct bribery under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code, knowingly rendering unjust judgment under Article 204 of the Revised Penal Code, corrupt practices of public officers under Section 3(a) of Republic Act 3019, soliciting or accepting gifts under Section 7(d) of Republic Act No. 6713, and plunder under Republic Act No. 7060.

Syjuco said the acts warrant Drilon’s prosecution.

In the complaint, Syjuco asked the Ombudsman to “immediately order the preventive suspension of respondents and to conduct the necessary action on the matter leading to the immediate filing of criminal and administrative cases as the evidence may so warrant,” Gma news online reported.

Reportedly, aside from the complaint, Syjuco has also challenged Drilon to a “one-on one” debate about the conception and use of the DAP.

“Let a reputable people’s organization such as the PHILCONSA and/or the IBP organize this debate at a proximate time, and in a proper venue that national media can cover, so that our people will know. I ask Mr. Drilon to accept this challenge in the interest of truth and the strong sense of righteousness of our people, by our people, and for our people,” Syjuco said.

Currently, the senate president is in South Korea with President Benigno Aquino III for a state visit there. But his staff told GMA News Online that they will release a response shortly.

President Benigno Aquino III had earlier insisted that DAP releases made to senators last year cannot be considered as bribes, drawing question if there is such a thing as “bribery after the fact”, Gma news online said.

Aquino’s allies claimed that there were no irregularities in the government’s release of discretionary funds to senators months after the impeachment.

The President even dared critics to impeach him over the DAP controversy, while standing firm on his authority to use the country’s savings for other purposes, as long as they are in the national budget, Gma news online said.

This is not the first time Drilon was slapped with plunder charges. In September, Syjuco filed a plunder complaint against him for alleged irregularities in the construction of the Iloilo Hall of Justice in 1992.

Earlier, Syjuco filed another plunder complaint against the senator for an allegedly overpriced walkway near the Iloilo River but Drilon had earlier dismissed Syjuco’s complaint as a form of “malicious political harassment.”

“Malisyoso ito at walang basehan. Nakalulungkot na binibigyan ng publicity. Kitang-kita, on its face, na political harassment by someone who is a discredited politician rejected by the Ilonggos last election,” he said in a radio interview.

Drilon likewise pointed out that Syjuco is currently facing a graft case in the Sandiganbayan for an alleged irregular disbursement of funds when the former congressman was director-general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in 2007, the online news reported.

Source: Gma news online