Sonny Angara reacts to handwritten name in Napoles list

Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara Jr. said he had no dealings with alleged pork scam brains Janet Napoles, who seemed to have implicated him in an affidavit.

In a statement Thursday, Angara shrugged off the so-called “Napolist” released by the Senate which he said “included my name (if it was indeed referring to me).”

The Napoles-signed affidavit Justice Chief Leila De Lima submitted to the Senate included a certain “Cong. Angara-APO”, among others. Unlike other names in the list, Angara’s was handwritten.

Prior to his stint in the Senate, Angara served as representative of the lone district of Aurora. He is also the son of former Senate President Edgardo Angara.

“In my three terms as congressman, I have never allocated any of my PDAF (Priority Development Assistance Fund) to any NGO (nongovernment organization),” Angara said.

He has also sent to the media a list of all his PDAF allocations during his three years in Congress. “Records will bear me out,” the neophyte senator stressed.

“All my PDAF from 2004 to 2013 were allocated to LGUs, schools and hospitals within my congressional district in Aurora,” Angara’s statement read further.

Angara is among the new batch of lawmakers recently dragged into the pork mess, which has already seen three senators threatened with charges.

On Wednesday, former Senator Panfilo Lacson revealed an unsigned list of names from Napoles, which included one former and 11 incumbent senators.

De Lima’s release of the so-called “Napolist” came weeks after her meeting with Napoles. She has earlier been criticized for asking for more time to verify the list.

Critics said De Lima’s move raised doubts that the administration will “sanitize” the list from Malacanang allies, a fear President Benigno Aquino III himself allayed.