Senate President Tito Sotto said he will no longer respond to allegations made by 18 Marines linking him to the supposed receipt of large suitcases containing cash.
The claim was included in a joint affidavit by the Marines, which alleged that Sotto received five large suitcases inside a building in Baclaran. The affidavit described three types of suitcases — small, medium and large — each supposedly containing different amounts of money.
According to the document, a small suitcase allegedly contained P15 million to P25 million, while a medium suitcase was said to hold P30 million to P40 million. The large suitcase was claimed to contain between P50 million and P70 million.
Aside from Sotto, the affidavit also mentioned Sens. Loren Legarda, Mark Villar, Erwin Tulfo and Francis “Chiz” Escudero, as well as former Sen. Bong Revilla Jr., in connection with the allegations.
Sotto said he would not engage further with the accusations. He made a joke about the issue, saying he might be asked by his wife to look for the money if he continued to comment on it.
The Senate president earlier said he had already spoken with former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV about the matter and that Trillanes supposedly knows who was behind the allegations.
Sotto maintained that he has no knowledge of the claims made in the affidavit.
