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Raissa Robles

A Catholic priest turned provincial governor has implicated the presidential palace in another scandal, brandishing a bundle of  money he says he was given after a meeting with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last week.
Eddie Panlilio, the reformist governor in Mrs Arroyo's home province of Pampanga, said  yesterday  he had written to the palace asking who the  500,000 pesos (HK$89,148) came from and for what it was intended. He said he wanted his  government to issue  a receipt for the 'donation'.
'Maybe  [the cash] is coming from  [Mrs Arroyo],' he said.
He  said he was  giving Mrs Arroyo the benefit of the doubt and did not want to call the money a bribe.
'If the money was really intended to fund community-based projects, I will go ahead and use it.'
However, he  said: 'If there are statements  to the contrary, I would be forced to return the money.'
He showed reporters five bundles of 1,000-peso  notes and the brown paper 'gift bag' with a red ribbon that he said held the cash.
He claimed that his chief of staff, Archie Reyes, was initially handed the brown bag by a presidential palace official, but  had refused it.
Later, the same bag was handed to Mr Reyes by Bulacan provincial governor Joselito Mendoza, who said it was 'from Malacanang Palace  for community-based projects'.
Mr Mendoza issued a separate statement describing the alleged incident, adding he, too, had received 500,000 pesos in cash from an unnamed palace official. It was intended for community projects in his province, he was told.
On Sunday, after reports of the cash payouts first emerged, presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye issued a statement saying 'there is nothing wrong with receiving a donation, provided it is put to good use.' He  said the cash gift was a 'non-issue', and  even the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin  took cash from the Marcos dictatorship.
Opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson said that if taxpayers' money was used, the Office of the President should show it had followed proper disbursement procedures. If it was a private donation from Mrs Arroyo,  it should be recorded in her tax return, he said.
Mr Panlilio yesterday expressed willingness to testify  in the event of an investigation.
'I am not trying to be holy,  but I have opted to listen to my conscience,' he said.
Bribery allegations have previously been levelled against  Mrs Arroyo's  Kampi party.
Last week, left-wing lawmaker Crispin Beltran accused Kampi deputy secretary general Francis Ver of offering him  2 million pesos in exchange for endorsing a flimsy impeachment complaint against the president to 'inoculate' her against future impeachments.
Mrs Arroyo's secretary for local governments, Ronaldo Puno, who is also Kampi secretary general, sacked Mr Ver, saying payoffs were not party policy.



Governor shows cash in  bag after visit to Arroyo