Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro pressed a Senate witness on Thursday, June 4, to produce hard proof before his accusation against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. could be taken seriously, arguing that words spoken at a hearing carry no weight without supporting records.
“Ano’ng ebidensiya?” Castro asked reporters at a Palace briefing, casting doubt on whether anything substantiated the claim that suitcases of cash had been brought to the President’s home in Paoay, Ilocos Norte.
She placed the responsibility squarely on the person making the accusation. Told that no documents had yet surfaced even though the charge named the President directly, Castro maintained that an accuser must establish the truth of what he alleges.
“Pakita muna nila iyong ebidensiya; madali kasing magturo,” she said, warning against those she suggested were acting in bad faith. “Lalo na kung balak mo lang naman talaga ay manggiba at magsilbing isang obstructionist o destabilizer,” she added.
Castro returned repeatedly to the same standard, insisting that a paper trail, not testimony alone, should anchor any such allegation. “So, dapat patunayan nila, bigyan nila tayo ng dokumento at hindi iyong salita lamang,” she said.
The accusation came from Bernard Tube, who described himself as a former Marine once employed by businessman and ex-congressman Zaldy Co. Tube told senators that he had gone with Co to deliver suitcases of cash to the President’s Paoay residence. His account emerged in the legislative inquiry examining alleged irregularities in flood control spending, among the controversies lawmakers and other agencies are currently scrutinizing.
Pressed on whether the President meant to keep former Marines and other potential witnesses from testifying before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Castro rejected that reading outright. “Hindi po trabaho ng Pangulo, ang mangharang ninuman, so, huwag magbigay ng ganyang klaseng impresyon,” she said, adding that the administration had no plan to stand in the way of the Senate’s work.
On the question of presidential involvement in the probe itself, Castro was firm that Marcos would stay out of it and let the investigation run its course.
