Businessman Antonio "Tonyboy" Cojuangco assured the Senate blue ribbon committee on Thursday that Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno was not capable of receiving jueteng payola as alleged by retired Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz.
"I told Archbishop Cruz that I know the character of Usec. Puno and his close friendship with President Aquino, and it was therefore inconceivable that Usec. Puno would be taking jueteng money," Cojuangco, President Benigno Aquino III's second cousin, told the Senate in a letter.
Senate blue ribbon committee head Senator Teofisto Guingona III said Cojuangco had asked the Senate to excuse his absence during the hearing on the illegal numbers game because he is currently out of the country.
Despite his show of support for the beleaguered undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Cojuangco however denied that he told Cruz to "go easy" on Puno by not including him in the list of jueteng beneficiaries.
"I categorically deny that," Cojuangco said.
He added that the archbishop's list of alleged jueteng lords, operators, and payola recipients was useless because it is "unsubstantiated" and is "lacking" in solid evidence.
Cojuangco narrated that he met with Cruz on September 17 to secure a copy of the list in order to "alert" Aquino about the issue. "I was emboldened to seek an appointment with Archbishop Cruz in view of his past association on religious affairs with my mother," he said.
He said that when he received a copy of the list, the only names he recognized were those of Puno and former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Jesus Verzosa.
Cojuangco said he then asked Cruz whether the list was substantiated, to which the archbishop reportedly answered "No" and clarified that he was merely relying on his "network of informants."
"I then knew and concluded that I could not and would not submit the list to President Aquino as all reports to him should be validated and have solid basis and evidence," the businessman said.
Cojuangco likewise said he was surprised when Cruz revealed the list at the first Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on jueteng because the archbishop had earlier insisted that the list remain confidential.—Kimberly Jane T. Tan/JV
