Krisel: I didn't get payola

Albay Rep. Krisel Lagman-Luistro denied yesterday having received any money in connection with the passage of the controversial Omnibus Power Bill, saying the alleged bribery never took place.

"I deny categorically having received any amount... if there was any grease money, I would have been the first to expose it as what I did in the Maslog textbook scam where I could have personally gained a much bigger amount," she said in a statement.

As this developed, Senate President Franklin Drilon warned party-list Rep. Renato Magtubo against making "irresponsible charges" that senators were also bribed.

Magtubo claimed in the radio program "Double A sa Double B" aired over dzBB that senators also received payola.

Drilon said Magtubo should be careful in making the charge against senators. He said that not one senator has received a single centavo for the passage of the power bill.

Luistro said there was no need to bribe House members "because the passage of the controversial measure was a foregone conclusion as it was supported by the majority coalition, being an administration measure."

Luistro is a niece of former ABB squad leader-turned-

labor organizer Felimon "Popoy" Lagman, the recognized

head of the militant group Sanlakas which is represented in the House by Magtubo, one of the two lawmakers who blew the lid off the alleged bribery scam. Luistro is also Sanlakas vice president for Luzon.

It was Luistro who had exposed last year the attempt of Mary Ann Maslog, a dealer of textbooks and other school supplies, to offer her commissions of up to 40 percent for school items she would purchase for her Albay congressional district.

Before her expose', Maslog was tagged as the one who delivered a plastic bag containing P3 million to the office of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Luistro was prompted to break her silence on the alleged bribery by appeals from her colleagues to say her piece.

In his statement on Monday denying he had something to do with the P500,000 that Magtubo claimed to have received from a member of his staff, Minority Leader Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (Lakas, Quezon City) said: "Incidentally, Rep. Magtubo's boss has a niece in Congress, a member of the majority. What does she say about this?"

Luistro also supported the proposal of several congressmen for the House to create an independent commission to look into the bribery allegations.

She defended the power bill, to which she contributed some amendments during the marathon 20-hour session Tuesday and Wednesday last week.

She said she is comfortable with her affirmative vote on the measure because the bill's critics failed to present a viable alternative to privatization to stop the financial hemorrhage of the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

The measure seeks to restructure the power industry and pave the way for the sale of Napocor, the country's largest corporation in terms of assets.

Responding to criticism that the bill would pass on to taxpayers and consumers the state power firm's loans, variously estimated between P500 billion and P700 billion, Luistro said the critics failed to point out that at present, users of electricity are already paying for Napocor's debt.

"This burden will be reduced as the bulk of privatization proceeds in the estimated amount of not less than P150 billion is earmarked for the payment of Napocor loans," she said.

She said a further rise in the cost of electricity "will be prevented, coupled with a mandatory rate reduction."

Meanwhile, the Aboitiz group denied allegations that it gave money to lawmakers who voted for the passage of the power bill.

"Such unsubstantiated public claims are clearly irresponsible acts that should not be given further attention," the firm said in a statement.

It said the company will actually face greater risk with the passage of the bill because this will only open the competition in the power sector.

In a related development, a labor group proposed to include consumers of electricity as investors of Napocor.

Jose Malvar Villegas, president of the Lapiang Manggagawa, said consumers have the right to demand that they be given an opportunity to invest and be co-owners of Napocor.

"Why limit the opportunity to the usual economic elite and their foreign partners or the reported 'friends' of President Estrada?" he asked.

Calls for Magtubo's investigation continued to mount yesterday.

Rep. Renato Leviste (Lakas, Mindoro Oriental) said the Sanlakas representative should be punished for his "sweeping accusation, which makes everyone of us in the House members suspect."

"Iba yang si Rene, palibhasa leftist (Rene Magtubo is different, perhaps because he is a leftist)," he said.

Leviste denied having received any money in connection with the power bill. So did Rep. Enrique Garcia (LAMP, Bataan), one of the 30 congressmen, mostly belonging to the minority, who voted against the measure.

Garcia said he could not understand why money would be given to those who opposed the draft legislation restructuring the power industry.

He said if money flowed as Magtubo claimed, "it definitely is not a bribe, because a bribe is given in exchange for something."

In the case of the power bill, a vote was already taken when Magtubo received his "bribe," he added.

Another sectoral representative, Cresente Paez, denied receiving any money from House leader.

Paez, who represents a national organization of cooperatives, said he was abroad last week attending a conference.

"I have no knowledge of the alleged payoffs," he said.

Rep. Joy-Augustus Young of Promdi also denied having received bribe money.

"I have never been approached and offered the amount for my vote," he said in a statement. "I do not know Magtubo's motives in including my name, but I certainly hope that he will be gentlemanly enough to correct whatever damages he has caused me and the other members of the House."

In Negros Occidental, lawmakers denied reports that they received money in exchange for the approval of the power bill.

Rep. Apolinario Lozada (Lakas, fifth District)) denied any part in the transaction and urged an independent and impartial investigation on the bribery allegations.

Rep. John Orola (Bacolod City) said Magtubo's claim is "irresponsible and devoid of basis," while Rep. Edith Villanueva (third District) challenged other House members to come out with evidence.

Meanwhile, Rep. Charlie Cojuangco (fourth District) asked Magtubo why he accepted the bribe money.

At the Senate, Majority Leader Francisco Tatad said it makes no sense for two congressmen to claim that they got P500,000 each from the Office of the Minority Leader for helping pass the power bill after they had voted against it.

"If it was not a bribe, what was it? The story becomes more ludicrous when we are told that the P500,000 was a bonus from Speaker (Manuel) Villar," he said.

Tatad said Villar does not have all that money, and that congressmen are not entitled to any bonus.

"Besides, P500,000 is bigger than a congressman's annual salary," he added.

In a related development, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto also kept his hands off from the bribery scandal at the House, saying he will give the House members an opportunity to look into the matter and conduct an independent investigation.

Malacañang said earlier it will not meddle into the affairs of the House because the bribe allegations are an internal matter that must be answered by the lawmakers themselves.

Desierto said: "I don't want to encroach on somebody's turf. Let's not destroy the institution because of a hasty action on the part of the Ombudsman."

Magtubo continued on the warpath yesterday, lashing out at Belmonte and Villar for denying the alleged bribery.

"Their denials prove our case not so much on the strength of our evidence but on the weakness of their denials," he said in a statement.

He added that Villar's response to his revelation "was a meek 'policy statement' and a 'call for investigation.'"

"This is not a failure on his part to grasp the gravity of the charges but a telltale sign of his predicament," his statement said.

Magtubo claimed that Belmonte is Villar's "first and sole line of defense."

"His task is to deny completely the truth of our statements and not to admit to any of our allegations lest the entire House crumble like a deck of cards," he said.

He said he and fellow party-list Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales never pointed to Belmonte as the one who have them money, but that it came from his office through his chief of staff, lawyer Grace Andres.

"How come they were not able to immediately produce Andres to deny the veracity of our statements?" Magtubo asked.

He said that up to now, all that Belmonte has produced is "a limp excuse that he did not personally hand over the money to us, a fact that is a non-issue from the start."

The minority leader denied on Monday having given any money to Magtubo.

"In fact, I have not talked to him about the bill or about money, or about his vote or about anything at all," he said.

He said he was in the hospital when the House voted on the power bill and the supposed bribery took place.

As for Andres, Belmonte said all sorts of communications from the Speaker's office, the Department of Budget and Management and other agencies to the minority pass through her.

"Thus, she was obviously a convenient name," he added. -- With Efren Danao, Delon Porcalla, Rolly Espina