Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio said he is convinced the P500,000 he received at a gathering in Malacañang last week was not a bribe.
Still, Panlilio urged Malacañang to reveal the source of a P500,000 "cash gift" handed to him by a man inside the presidential palace last Thursday.
Panlilio said his office will ask Malacañang, through a letter, for an official receipt and a clarification where the money came from. He said he will return the money if he does not receive a response.
He said the money will be kept in a vault pending a reply from Malacañang. He said he will use the money for public projects once Malacañang has responded to his request for proper documentation of the money.
Panlilio earlier revealed that he received the P500,000 (approximately $11,270) after a governors' league meeting inside the Malacañang compound, which was presided over by Mrs. Arroyo.
In a report in the Philippine Star, Panlilio reportedly was about to leave the Palace grounds after a meeting with the League of Governors when his chief of staff Archie Reyes handed him a bag, which turned out to contain the money. He said it was Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza who gave the bag to his chief of staff and who informed him earlier that money for the barangay elections would be distributed after the meeting of the governors.
"I did not think it was bribe money, otherwise I would not have accepted it," Panlilio said in a statement read to reporters.
"I received it in good faith. I considered the money to have come from public funds, as it was given by Malacañang. It will be used for public purposes," he said.
Source
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