Senator kikopangilinan on Tuesday questioned the 'recanting' statement of an Agriculture assistant secretary who earlier alleged that high-profile individuals are linked to agricultural smuggling in the country.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan questions Agriculture Assistant Secretary Federico Laciste at the Senate hearing on vegetable smuggling on Apr. 12, 2022.
Pangilinan noticed that the names that were mentioned did not include names of politicians, contrary to Laciste's earlier claim. "'Yung binigay niyong listahan walang politiko, e yung sinabi niyo nung March 19 may mga politician at congressman pa nga e. So please, huwag niyo kaming nililinlang. Dito lang tayo sa totoo," he added.
"Sir, for one, hindi naman sa ako ay nagsisinungaling, sir. What's the purpose sir na magsisinungaling ako? I've been taking this action in spite and despite na wala akong tao at wala akong budget," Laciste said. "Chineck ko naman. Hindi naman directly tumawag sa akin. Sinong tao ang magsasabi sa akin na ikaw ba si congressman, ikaw ba si colonel, ikaw ba si deputy commissioner, e ginamit lang yung mga pangalan sir e. Same thing hindi po validated 'yung sinabing mga name pero just to appease Ms. Agot, na may threat siya, sinabi ko rin na may mga tumatawag din [sa akin]. So parang nakipag-relate lang ako sa kanya at that time that she is worried about her safety," he said.
"You're actually recanting what you said. Your previous statement was meron and now you are explaining na hindi pala ganon. Name-dropping lang. [Your previous statement said there were names but now that's not the case, that it was just name-dropping.] Whatever it is, kung ano ang name na dinrop [whatever name was dropped]can you please submit to the Senate president's office as the chairman of the committee of the whole so that we get a sense of this all," Pangilinan said.
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