The Manila Times is questioning why Senator Frank Drilon is lawyering for Commission on Elections Chair Andy Bautista during the Senate inquiry into his undeclared 35 accounts with P329 million in deposits at the Luzon Development Bank.
The Manila Times is questioning why Senator Frank Drilon is lawyering for Commission on Elections Chair Andy Bautista during the Senate inquiry into his undeclared 35 accounts with P329 million in deposits at the Luzon Development Bank.
In its August 25 editorial, the Manila Times said the Senate had been stymied not only by the absence of Bautista’s wife, Tish, who exposed his hidden wealth and the Limcaoco -owned Luzon Bank’s refusal to talk about the deposits without Bautista’s waiver, but also by Drilon’s biased questioning in the hearing.
“The inquiry was derailed even more by the actions of Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, who emerged as a lawyer for Bautista and a lawyer against the government,” said the Manila Times.
It questioned why Drilon had to cite the closure of his wife’s bank accounts just because she was married to a politically exposed person (PEP) which would necessitate flagging from the Anti-Money Laundering Council. Drilon was also “particularly critical” of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in its probe into Bautista’s unexplained wealth of over P1 billion.
“Drilon’s tactics during the hearing stymied the inquiry.
Consequently, we are constrained to entertain the suspicions of those who think that Drilon’s objective might be to prevent the inquiry from going into Bautista’s conduct or misconduct of the 2016 elections. Is he anxious that the inquiry might put under question his completely unexpected topping of the senatorial election?” the Manila Times asked. Drilon led the 2016 race with 18,607,391 votes.
Drilon is a partner in the influential ACCRA Law office which represents Smartmatic, the provider of automated poll counting machines in the 2010, 2013, and 2016 elections. Abogado Francis Lim of ACCRA Law is Luzon Bank’s lawyer in the Senate hearing.
“The Senate inquiry into Bautista’s hidden wealth failed to ask the questions. Therefore, it is now even more hidden than it was before,” the editorial said.
Read the article in ABOGADO
http://globalford.org/drilon-lawyering-andy-bautista/
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