CEBU Provincial Board Member Celestino “Tining” Martinez III spoke in defense of his mother, Clavel, deniying that the former 4th district representative was involved in the pork barrel scam.
Martinez said his mother was already retired and had never met the suspected mastermind Janet Napoles.
“Let’s just wait for whatever they find out and what the basis for making the list is,” he quoted his mother telling him.
Martinez asked the public not to prejudge his mother who was congresswoman from 1998 to 2007.
NOT ME, TOO
Meanwhile, Cebu 1st district Rep. Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas flew home to Cebu yesterday, worried that his name was on the list.
He earlier said it was “impossible” for him as a first-time legislator to be linked to the misuse of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) because the fund was scrapped after he was elected in 2013.
Gullas said his name may have been inadvertently inserted in the ‘Napolist’ which former senator Panfilo Lacson submitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
He said he took the next available flight to Cebu.
“I just needed to be with my family. Di ko pwede mag-inusara didto nga ingon ani (I can’t be alone there in situations like this),” he said.
Gullas’ term in the 16th Congress started in July 30 2013.
In November last year, the Supreme Court (SC) declared the PDAF, popularly known as pork barrel, unconstitutional.
Gullas said that in the four months prior to the SC decision, he has not yet received his share of the pork barrel.
The Commission on Audit special report on the pork barrel for 2007 to 2009 included the name of his grandfather, former Rep. Eduardo Gullas, as among those who channeled their fund to questionable non-government organizations.
The elder Gullas who was 1st district congressman from 2004 to July 2013 has repeatedly denied any irregularities in these transactions.