JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II named former senator Jamby Madrigal and Biñan City Rep. Marlyn Alonte-Naguiat as the ones who offered P100 million to high-profile inmates to recant their testimony against Senator Leila de Lima, a charge that both immediately denied.
Madrigal called Aguirre’s allegation “malicious and baseless” while Naguiat said she was ready to take a lie detector test to show she had nothing to do with any bribery attempt.
De Lima dismissed Aguirre’s accusation as “preposterous.”
In a TV interview Thursday, Aguirre said the inmates were supposed to retract their statements against De Lima before the People Power anniversary on Saturday because they wanted to attract more people to the Edsa gathering.
He added that the wife of Noel Martinez, one of the inmates who implicated De Lima, told him about the bribe offer, which he said the inmates rejected.
Aguirre said the bribe offer was made specifically to the eight inmates currently being held at the Armed Forces of the Philippines custodial center in Camp Aguinaldo.
He said the offer was repeated on Thursday morning through former police officer and convicted kidnapper Clarence Dongail.
“In both instances, the inmates said no,” Aguirre said.
He said he could gather the eight inmates to confirm the bribe attempt, saying it was made using the common mobile phone in the area.
Aguirre said he would file a complaint against Madrigal and Naguiat, calling what they did “illegal” and “immoral.”
Naguiat on Friday denied that she and Madrigal tried to bribe the inmates.
“I didn’t call them. I don’t know where they got this,” Naguiat told a radio interview in Filipino.
She said she knew Madrigal from politics, but not on a personal level.
The congresswoman said she was open to taking a lie-detector test and challenged Aguirre to produce the person who said she had tried to bribe the inmates.
She said that while she was with the Liberal Party when she ran for her seat in Congress, she later joined PDP Laban after she won.
Interviewed over ANC, De Lima said she doesn’t know where Aguirre’s allegations came from.
LP president Senator Francis Pangilinan dismissed as “false and pure nonsense” allegations that their party was involved in the bribery attempt.
The allegations, Pangilinan said, are ridiculous and meant to divert the attention to the erroneous and unlawful filing of charges against De Lima.
He slammed the alleged report about LP involvement in the bribe attempt as a “garbage” and “foolishness.”
“That’s stupidity. That information is garbage,” he said.
Madrigal demanded an apology from Aguirre II for dragging her name into the alleged bribery attempt.
“Aguirre’s accusation was not only baseless, malicious, [and] without foundation in fact or logic but also a great disservice to the administration he claims to serve,” Madrigal said.
Madrigal, who is abroad, said she hoped Aguirre was not “losing his marbles” as he is supposed to be ensuring not just the rule of law, but sobriety in its application.
“He is not supposed to be in the business of peddling conspiracy theories, much less engaging in character assassination,” she said.
Madrigal said she and President Rodrigo Duterte have known each other personally for many years and she believes that even the President wouldn’t think she would be involved in such a thing.