THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO PANLILIO…
PANLILIO ACCEPTS P500,000
CASH FROM UNKNOWN
SOURCE… BUT WAS UNUSUALLY
QUIET ABOUT IT…
Morning -- Turns over money to
Provincial Adminis tra tor Atty. Vi vian
Dabu for safekeeping through niece-
secreta ry Ma rlene Ba utista . (DABU’S
VERSION)
Lunch time – Gov. Ed calls Dabu and gi ves
the green light to use money for s taff
retrea t. Dabu gi ves then PIO Rommel de
Jesus P20,000 from the P500,000.
(Source: Panlilio’s honesty put in question,
Tonette Orejas, PDI, Oct. 19, 2008)
Evening: Tonette Orejas interviews
Panlilio, asks if he recei ved cash gi ft at
Mala canang. Panlilio confi rms and tells
the s tory tha t was to appea r a t Inqui rer’s
front page the next da y.
Afternoon -- Panlilio with Confidence
Team, including two lawyers, holds
emergency meeting at Mother
Theresa of Calcutta Hospital, City of
San Fernando where a team member
was confined. Discusses handling of
P500,000 issue. Lawyer (Atty.
Velez) said money is evidence of
corruption, suggested every bill be
photocopied. Atty. Dabu said that she
has already used part of the money to
Rommel for retreat. Source: Archie Reyes’
interview: DWRW Talakayan, Oct. 22, 2008)
SENATE BLUE RIBBON
COMMITTEE HEARING.
Under oath, Pa nlilio swea rs by the Bible to
tell the truth on money. Wi th hi m were
volunteer lawyers Dea n Cesar Villanueva
and Dean Antonio La Vina of the Ateneo
de Manila Uni versi ty. There he said he
handed over the money to Atty. Dabu for
safekeeping on Oct. 11 and he had not
spend i t.
PANLILIO ADMITS THE
MONEY WAS USED
Gov. Eddie Panlilio admitted to The
STAR today that he allowed the use
of some of the P500,000 cash that
was handed to him during a
meeting in Malacanang on Oct. 11
last year, even befor e the "payola"
controversy erupted. Source:
Panlilio admits using part of P500,000
Malacanang payola (PhilStar , Ding
Cervantes, Oct. 17, 2008)
OCTOBER 11, Evening – (7:00pm) Panlilio turns over
2007 the money to Provincial Administrator
Atty. Vivian Dabu for safekeeping.
(PANLILIO’S V ERSION)
Source: Senate Blue Ribbon Co mmittee Hearing, Nov.
14, 2007
OCTOBER 12, Philippine Daily Inquirer breaks the
2007 exclusive story, Among Ed given P.5M
by Palace functionary. There Panlilio
said he shared the FIRST VERSION OF
“TRUTH” where he said that he took a
brown paper bag stuffed with the
money from an unknown man who
told him that he could use for village
OCTOBER 13,
projects. He also said tha t the “money
2007
is intact, and not a bill removed
from the bag.”
,
2007
OCTOBER 14, 2007 Panlilio holds a press conference on
P500,000 issue, tells a completely
different version of how he got hold of
the P500,000.
This ti me, NEXT VERSION OF “TRUTH”, he
said Gov. Jonjon Mendoza of Bula can
handed the money and tha t i t was gi ven to
Archie Reyes , then Chief of Staff a nd not to
OCTOBER 15,
hi m.
2007
Source: Official Statement, distri buted to
the media during the press conference.
OCTOBER 16,
2007 Panlilio tells Inquirer that he made
the wrong statements because
“everything happened so fast”. He
said as a priest, he cannot lie. Source:
To Palace: Tell truth on money (PDI, Oct. 16, 2007)
NOV EMBER 14,
2007
Former Chief of Staff Archimedes
Reyes belies Panlilio’s earlier claims
that money was still intact when he
exposed it to the media. Reyes also
OCTOBER 17, disclosed that Panlilio was not
2008 telling the truth when he said he did
not know the man who gave him the
money. Source: Panlilio spent part of P.5-M
cash gift, says former aide (PhilStar Oct. 18, 2008)
OCTOBER 18,
2008
Dabu confirms reports that the money
was used, with Panlilio’s consent. She
also belies Panlilio’s statement that the
OCTOBER 19, money was handed over to her on Oct.
2008 11 and not Oct. 12. This is not what he
said at the Senate Blue Ribbon
Committee Hearing. Source: Panlilio’s
honesty put in question, Tonette Orejas, PDI, Oct.
19, 2008
Panlilio’s honesty put in question
Gov used, returned part of cash gift from Palace

Philippine Daily Inquirer

First Posted 01:26:00 10/19/2008

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines—Belated revelation by a former chief of staff of

Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio that P20,000 from the P500,000 given in Malacañang last year
had been used and returned to the provincial coffers gave strong proof that the Catholic priest
was not totally honest.

Rosve Henson, president of the Kapanalig at Kambilan ning Memalen Pampanga Inc.
(Kambilan), the group that filed a recall petition against Panlilio on Wednesday, issued this
statement a day after Archimedes Reyes bared that part of the alleged Palace cash gift was used
to shoulder the expenses for a spiritual retreat in Tagaytay City on Oct. 13 and 14 last year.

Reyes, public information officer Rommel de Jesus and social welfare program coordinator
Roperlee Syquia joined that retreat.

It was Reyes who received on Oct. 11 last year a brown paper gift bag that he thought to contain
sandwiches. Its contents turned out to be a stack of P1,000 bills worth P500,000.

Malacañang payoff

Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza confirmed that he handed the gift bag to Reyes after a meeting
of local officials with President Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang.

“That put into question the transparency and honesty na binabandera niya (that he has been
brandishing)… There’s a cover- up here and he’s not being consistent,” Henson said o f how
Panlilio handled the money that he refused to spend owing to its still unknown source.

On Saturday, Reyes clarified that in the Kapihan sa Rembrandt in Quezon City, where he made
the disclosure on Friday, he said he did not have a firsthand information on the amount.

He said it was De Jesus who mentioned that he received P20,000 from provincial administrator
Vivian Dabu.

De Jesus, who is in the United States, could not be reached on Saturday to confirm the amount.

In a telephone interview, Dabu confirmed taking out P10,000 from the stash of cash and handing
this to De Jesus.
By her account, this was how the event went: “Among Ed turned over the money [given at the
Palace] to me on Friday morning (Oct. 12) through his secretary Marlene. When he called b y
lunch, he said Archie, Rommel and Rop needed cash for the retreat. I said it’s a holiday and I’m
not in the office. I said the only money I have at that time in Clark was the money [he] handed to
me. I suggested we borrow first from that and replace it later that day.”

“[Panlilio] gave permission. That same afternoon, I went to the capitol, replenished the amount
and put the entire money in the safe,” Dabu said.

“Nothing was taken from money after that. P500,000 pa rin (It’s still P500,000),” she said.

Money intact

When the Philippine Daily Inquirer called on Oct. 13, 2007, to seek confirmation about the
alleged doleout, Dabu said the money was intact.

“We really didn’t know what to do with that money. Among Ed thought that the best thing to do
was put it in the safe because he did not know where it really originated,” Dabu sa id. Tonette
Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon

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94263/Among_Ed_given_P.5M_by_Palace_functionary

Among Ed given P.5M by Palace functionary

By Tonette Orejas
Inquirer
Posted date: October 13, 2007

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- For a Catholic priest who won as governor on account of his campaign pitch to
provide good and moral leadership in Pampanga, Eddie Panlilio has confronted what he called a "first test" to his
religious values and character as a public official.

It happened right on the grounds of Malacañang Palace, the country's seat of power, on Thursday.

And there was only him and the giver, a male Palace staff whom he described to be in his 40s.

Panlilio said nobody else was near him when the man approached him.

This was between 4:30 and 5 p.m., immediately after the meeting of governors and mayors with President
Macapagal-Arroyo, his kabalen (province mate), on "development projects in the countryside."
"He told me his name but I could not recall it. He was respectful to me," Panlilio said.

The man, he said, handed him a brown paper gift bag stuffed with P500,000 in crisp P1,000 bills.

"Panyaup kanu keng barangay (It is money that I could use to help in the village) elections," he recalled of what the
man, dressed in barong Tagalog, told him as he walked out of the Palace grounds toward the parking lot where his
car was waiting.

"I initially said I could not use it because I ran as an independent candidate and still don't have a political party that
would support candidates for barangay (village) officials. I also said I should respect the non -partisanship of
barangay candidates," Panlilio said, recalling what he told the man.

But the man, he said, was pers istent.

"He did not tie it to any controversies about the President. He did not demand from me to stay loyal to the
President," Panlilio said. "I don't think I was being bribed to cut corners or to break the law."

Panlilio has spent 26 years in the priesthood and social action work before he took a leave from his ministry in
March. He defeated Board Member Lilia Pineda and re-electionist Governor Mark Lapid, in the Ma y 14
gubernatorial elections.

The Pinedas and Lapids were hamstrung by the jueteng (an illegal lottery game) and quarry corruption
controversies, respectively.

Panlilio said what the Palace functionary said was that he could also use the money for "barangay projects."

Thinking of the many requests for day-care centers and roads leading to rural schools but having little funds for
these, Panlilio said he accepted the money.

He said he did not sign any document acknowledging receipt of the amount.

He said he summoned his conscience to weigh the moral implications of his decision.

"I have reasons to believe that the money came from the public coffers since it was being handed by this man from
Malacañang. Since that was public money and it belonged to the people, I decided to take it and use it in a
beneficial way," he said.

Panlilio said his action would be an "outright no" if what was being given to him was protection money for jueteng,
quarry irregularities, and overpriced, substandard projects.

"I couldn't be blind to the needs of my constituents," he said. "That's public money anyway. What will ma tter is how
I would use it and I intend to use it to answer the people's needs."

On this occasion, Panlilio learned from how the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin dealt with government.

He said Sin received charities from the administration of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos even as he criticized
it for attacks on civil liberties.

Upon returning to Pampanga, Panlilio said he turned over the money to provincial administrator Vivian Dabu for
safekeeping.

"The money is still intact, not a bill removed from the bag," the governor said.

Dabu is convening the capitol's social services units on Monday to assess which requests are most urgently
 needed.

The barangays that would receive the funds are, in turn, expected to confirm the receipt of the money a nd report
how this was used.

Panlilio said as a first-term governor, he was not familiar with the ways of Malacañang. He said he did not think it
was irregular that the President would give financial help to local officials as long as the aid came from pub lic
funds.

"My conscience tells me that whatever resources came my way, as long as these would come from public taxes
and honest means, I would utilize that for the people who have little means to improve public utilities in their
communities," he said.

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Inquirer Headlines / Nation

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20071016 -
94677/Panlilio_to_Palace%3A_Tell_truth_on_money

Panlilio to Palace: Tell truth on money

More officials admit getting P500,000
By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Des k
Posted date: October 16, 2007

MANIL A, Philippines -- Declaring no one could suppress the truth, Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio Monday showed
on television the bundle of P500,000 he said he received in Malacañang, triggering similar admissions from
another governor and a congresswoman.

Their decision to go public about the monetary handouts that Malacañang had tried to downplay prompted calls in
the Senate for an investigation to find out who was behind the handouts and if President Gloria Macapagal -Arroyo
was involved.

“It’s very crucial that Malacañang should confirm which particular office the funds came from,” Panlilio said during a
press conference in the City of San Fernando.

He said if subpoenaed by the Senate, he would appear and tell the truth.

Bulacan Gov. Joselito “Jonjon” Mendoza and Pangasinan Rep. Rachel Arenas also came out in the open to admit
they had received money from Malacañang, amid Palace attempts to douse an impeachment move against Ms
Arro yo.

Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco had also previously admitted receiving monetary “gifts” from the Palace. Several
other congressmen and governors made the same admissions but chose to remain unidentified.

“I am a priest ... I cannot lie,” Panlilio, a Roman Catholic priest who defeated well -entrenched politicians in the May
elections to become governor, said at the Pampanga capitol.

Asked if he was declaring war on Ms Arroyo, his province mate, the governor said: “I am not declaring war on
anybody ... I am declaring war against untruth and lies.”

No to bribery

Panlilio, who first disclosed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer last weekend the handout he received on Thursday after
attending a meeting in Malacañang, reiterated he took the money in the belief that he could use it for community
projects in his province.

He stressed he would return the money to Malacañang “if this was given as a bribe.”

Panlilio said it was Mendoza who handed the bundle of P1,000 bills in a paper bag to his chief of staff, who then
turned it over to him.

The Pampanga governor said that initially he had erroneously told the Inquirer that the money was handed him by
a Malacañang functionary because everything happened so fast.

On the request of reporters, Panlilio showed the paper bag before media cameras and then he produced the
money -- P1,000 bills stacked in five bundles of P100,000 each.

“I did not think it was bribe money, otherwise, I would not have accepted it,” Panlilio said, reading from a prepared
statement.

Letter to Malacañang

“I received it in good faith. I considered the money to have come from public funds, as it was given by Malacañang,
and it will be used for public purpose.”

Panlilio showed reporters a copy of a letter he was sending to Malacañang to acknowledge the receipt of the
money and to request the name of the payer.

If the payer was identified, he said the provincial treasurer would issue an official receipt for it.

The money, he said, would in the meantime be kept in the capitol’s vault.

Not a numbers game

In telling the truth, Panlilio said he was “not being self-righteous.”

Speaking in Filipino and English, he said: “All of us have a conscience. I have a conscience and it is the voice of
God. I opted to listen to my conscience.”

Asked why many of those who attended the Palace meeting on Thursday were denying that th ey received
anything, Panlilio said: “Truth is not a numbers game.”
“I have always believed that truth can be suppressed at the moment but in the finality, truth will come out,” he said.

Truth will snowball

“I also believe that once truth is set forth, the adherence to this truth will snowball and a critical mass of people will
support (it).”

Mendoza, who confirmed that he too received P500,000, said he was also willing to attend any Senate
investigation.

Mendoza said the paper bags containing the money intended for him and Panlilio were given by a “female staff in
Malacañang” shortly after he left the meeting of governors attended by Ms Arro yo.

He said he did not know the woman and he did not get her name.

Two different accounts

Mendoza admitted it was he, not a male Palace staff, as Panlilio had said earlier, who handed the brown paper gift
bag to Panlilio’s chief of staff.

Mendoza, a provincial leader of the President’s party, Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), said he was told by
the woman: “These are for your community-based projects. Kindly hand the other one to Among Ed.”

Mendoza gave a different account to the Inquirer on Saturday.

Mendoza on Monday said he replied “No” to the Inquirer’s query on Saturday because what was asked of him was
a “brown envelope.”

For barangay projects

He had also replied “No” when asked if he had received the same amount as Panlilio.

Mendoza said he accepted the money because he was told by the female staff that it could be used for “barangay
projects.”

He said he did not think of the money as a bribe and that he believed he did nothing wrong when he took it.

Mendoza said he entrusted the money to Board Member Cornelio Santos, the president of the Liga ng mga
Barangay in Bulacan, who confirmed he had custody of it.

Arenas, too

Arenas, a member of Lakas -Christian Muslim Democrats party, admitted she received money from Malacañang but
said she had picked it up from the House of Representatives.

Arenas declined to say how much money she got and did not say what Malacañang office had told her about it.

“I was just told that there is something for me,” she said.

Negros Oriental Gov. Emilio Macias admitted he received P200,000 after the Union of Local Authorities of the
Philippines (ULAP) meeting in Malacañang on Thursday.

But Macias said the money was not a bribe but was intended for the Oct. 29 meeting with governors to be held in
 his province for the launch of the Integrated Tax collection system (I-Tax), a project introduced by a German
foundation.

The governor said he believed it came from the League of Provinces of the Philippines and not from Malacañang
because the one who handed him the money was a staff of the league’s secretariat.

Macias dismissed allegations that the money was a bribe for them to support Ms Arroyo in the impeachment case
against her since the governors could not do anything about the case.

Allowance for Domogan

Baguio City Rep. Mauricio Domogan Monday admitted that he received “an allowance” on Thursday but not in
Malacañang in the morning but in the House of Representatives in the evening.

Domogan, a member of the Lakas party, added that the P200,000 he received came from “the House through the
Office of the Speaker,” not from Ms Arro yo or Malacañang.

He said he was not present during the Thursday breakfast Ms Arro yo had with 190 congressmen.

He said there were many others like him who received their allowances at the House on Thursday even ing. With
reports from Carmela Reyes, Inquirer Central Luzon; Gabriel Cardinoza and Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes,
Inquirer Northern Luzon; and Jhunne x Napallacan Inquirer Visayas

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HEADLINES

Panlilio spent part of P.5-M cash gift, says former aide

By Perseus Echeminada Updated October 18, 2008 12:00 A M

Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio spent part of the P500,000 alleged bribe from Malacañang before coming
out to denounce what he called an “illegal handout,” his former chief of staff claimed yesterday.

According to Archie Reyes, he personally received the P500,000 cash gift during a gathering of local
officials in Malacañang on Oct. 11 last year.

Reyes, who resigned as chief of staff of Panlilio recently, claimed he had represented the Pampanga
governor during the meeting where the cash gift was distrib uted.

Reyes told the weekly Balitaan sa Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon C ity that he gave all the money intact to
Panlilio.
He disputed the claims of Panlilio that the money was intact when he exposed the illegal handout.

Reyes claimed part of the cash gift was spent in Tagaytay C ity where the governor stayed on a weekend.

“The money shown to the media was already polluted, it was not the same money distributed in
Malacañang,” Reyes pointed out.

Reyes also disclosed efforts to hide the identity of Bulacan Gov. Joselito “ Jun” Mendoza, the person who
distributed the cash gift.

“He (Panlilio) was trying to protect the identity of Gov. Mendoza by describing him as the man in white
long sleeves who gave him the money,” he said.

Panlilio, on the other hand, admitted spending pa rt of the P500,000 cash gift but stressed the deduction
was made arising from an urgent situation and the amount was immediately replenished.

Panlilio said the money was used for the expenses of his officials attending a three -day seminar in
Tagaytay C ity.

He said “less than P20,000” was deducted from the cash gift and it was immedia tely replenished, with the
whole amount placed under the custody of provincial administrator Vivian Dabu.

When he turned the money over to Dabu for safekeeping, Panlilio said he called for a press conference to
expose the “payola.”

He has refused to spend it witho ut any official confirmation as to its source.

Panlilio said he would continue to determine the source of the cash gift given to him through Reyes.

The alleged cash dole-outs in Malacañang were among the grounds of the latest impeachment complaint
against President Arroyo.

Reyes, a former seminarian, said he couldn’t blame his former boss for the lapses.

He said Panlilio, being a priest turned governor, lacked the adminis trative skills in running the affairs of the
provincial government.

“Gov is expert in C anon law because he a priest for the last 20 years but he has no background on local
governance,” Reyes said.

Two other former employees, Roperlee Syquia and Fil Rodriguez, also echoed the observation of Reyes.

They said the provincial government of Pampanga is now in disarray due to the lack of experience of
Panlilio.

Reyes though admitted the recall petition against Panlilio initiated by political opponents was ill advised.

To save the province from further mismanagement, Reyes said the best option is for Panlilio to step down
and allow a more competent leader to run the affairs of the provincial government.

Panlilio, on the other hand, told reporters in Pampanga that he is ready to veto any resolution of the
provincial board allocating funds for the recall elections.

Panlilio said he would exert all legal efforts to prevent the holding of the recall elections, such as
questioning before the C ommission on Elections (C omelec) the method of gathering the 220,000
signatures seeking his ouster.

C omelec C hairman Jose Melo earlier said the poll body would need an additional P4 0 million to finance the
special gubernatorial elections in Pampanga.

Melo said the provincial government of Pampanga could provide the funding for the conduct of recall
elections.

Panlilio said he is ready to veto any resolution of the provincial board al locating funds for the recall
elections.

“The signature campaign was orchestrated by local government officials. Recall power is supposed to be a
people’s initiative, without pressure from local officials,” he said.

Panlilio noted that d uring last Wednesday’s protest march highlig hting the filing of the recall petition
before the Comelec, some participants were on board vehicles with red license plates, indicating tha t some
were local officials supporting the move to oust him.

Malacañang, meanwhile, has kept its dis tance from the recall petition against Panlilio.

With almost all of the local officials in Pampanga identified as allies of President Arroyo, a native of the
province, it was immediately suspected that Malacañang is supporting the recall move agai nst Panlilio.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the issue is internal to Pampanga residents.

“From my understanding, the recall petition is something being done upon the signatures of his (Panlilio’s)
constituency. We have nothing to do with the local cons tituency,” Dureza said. – With Ding Cervantes,
Marvin Sy

BREAKING NE WS

LOCAL NEWS: Panlilio admits using part of P500,000

Malacanang payola
Ding C ervantes Updated October 17, 2008 03:52 PM
SAN FERNANDO -- Gov. Eddie Panlilio admitted to The STAR today that he allowe d the use of some of the
P500,000 cash that was handed to him during a meeting in Malacanang on Oct. 11 last year, even before
the “payola” controversy erupted.

He stressed though tha t the amount was immediately replenished and that part of the cash was used for
an urgent matter.

Panlilio’s estranged former chief of staff Archie Reyes said that some cash from one of the five bundles
received by Panlilio from Malacanang was used for his expenses for an official three -day seminar in
Tagaytay C ity. Two others -- Roperlee Syquia, who is also not estranged from Panlilio, and provincial
information officer Rommel de Jesus -- also attended the same seminar.

The governor also said today that he will “do all I can legally” to prevent the holding of recall gubernatorial
elections, including questioning before the C ommission on Elections (C omelec) the allegedly questionable
conduct of the recent gathering of 220,000 sig natures for the recall petition.