“I was just careless.”
Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada yesterday admitted that he endorsed the
non-government organizations (NGOs) that were allegedly controlled by
pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles and recipients of billions of
pesos in Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF)
“Basta ang ginawa ko lang nag-endorse ako…i admit (The only thing I did was make the endorsements),” he said
However, the senator stressed that “wala akong tinanggap na kickback (I did not receive any kickbacks).”
“May mga dokumento naman dyan na nagendorse ako ng NGO. Iyon lang
siguro ang tanging kasalanan ko. Wala ng iba. I was just careless (There
are documents that show that I made the endorsements. That’s the only
fault I had. Nothing else),” he said.
Estrada underscored that the court should give weight to a previous
testimony of whistleblower Benhur Luy that he did not hand over any
money to him personally.
“Sinabi niya sa wala siyang inabot na pera (Luy said that he did not hand me any money),” Estrada said to reporters.
During his previous testimonies, Luy, a relative of Napoles who had
worked for her as a finance officer, said that he handed to Estrada an
endorsement letter for him to sign during a party of Napoles that the
senator attended in Pasig City in 2012.
