SCIENCE
CITY OF MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija – “Why will I be willing to go to jail? I’m
innocent.”
Thus reacted Agriculture Secretary
Proceso Alcala as he maintained his innocence over his inclusion in the
so-called “Napolist.”
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines
of his visit at the central experiment station of the Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice) here Monday afternoon, Alcala said he is not like Sen.
Ramon Revilla Jr. who earlier said he was willing to go to jail even if the
legislator professed his own innocence in the
pork barrel scam.
Asked if he would mouth Revilla’s
statements contained in the latter’s privilege speech, Alcala replied: “I’m not
willing to go to jail. I committed no sin. But I’m willing to face the charges
that will be filed against me,” he said.
Alcala made fun of the socalled
Napolist, saying with the emergence of so many lists allegedly involved in the
scam, the list now looks more like “pambalot ng tinapa (tilapia wrapper).”
He stressed that he had never
dealt in any capacity with suspected “pork barrel” scam mastermind Janet
Lim-Napoles in his long career in public service. “I am sure about myself that
I never dealt with her, even during my incumbency as a congressman,” he said,
referring to his twin terms in the House of Representatives as representative
of his home province
of Quezon
He said the supposed transactions
happened between 2007 to 2009 when he was not yet the secretary of the
Department of Agriculture.
“Besides, the P10 billion involved not
the DA but the Department of Agrarian Reform,” he said.
Just the same, Alcala said he is ready
to face any investigation related to the multi-million-peso Priority
Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
He said an
impartial probe, one which would rely on evidence, not innuendoes, would
eventually establish his innocence.
He
said “it is hard to rebut allegations if these are not documented, if
they consist only of scribbled words in some lists, if there are no specifics.”
Alcala recalled
that when he became DA secretary, among his first official acts was to strictly
implement austerity measures and to purge the list of non government
organizations (NGOs) transacting business with the agency.
He said
that this housecleaning has in fact , he said, led him to formally ask the
Office of the Solicitor General and the Department of Justice to
file appropriate cases against KPMFI, a suspected Napoles NGO.
While admitting
his being linked to the pork barrel scam is an “unnecessary distraction,
“ Alcala said he remains focused in his job of helping farmers produce enough
affordable food to all Filipinos in partnership with other agencies and
research institutions such as the PhilRice.
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