I did not pressure anyone – Llamas

MALACANANG’S chief political adviser Ronald Llamas on Tuesday denied that he pressured anyone from the Iglesia ni Cristo (Inc-church of Christ) or former Supreme Court Associate Justice Serafin Cuevas for him to withdraw as the lead counsel of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Llamas said that the Palace did not assign anyone to negotiate for Corona’s withdrawal from the defense panel.

“There was no emissary from the Palace. Not I nor anyone else, for the simple reason that there was no pressure exerted whatsoever by Malacañang either on Justice Cuevas or the INC,” he added in a statement.

Llamas issued the statement in reaction to a story run by The Manila Times that he talked to a minister of the Iglesia, an influential religious group where Cuevas is a

member, to persuade Corona’s top lawyer to quit.

A source of The Times claimed that if Cuevas agreed to withdraw as the chief counsel of Corona, Malacañang would not sack National Bureau of Investigation Director Magtanggol Gatdula, who was under investigation for kidnapping and extortion.

Gatdula was eventually removed from his post.

Llamas said that it is unbelievable for him to approach Cuevas since he is not acquainted with the former Supreme Court associate justice.

He added that Cuevas was quoted by another newspaper to have said that the emissary was a former student of his.

“I was never a student of Cuevas, so how can I be that emissary?” Llamas asked.

“It’s funny how the Corona propagandists are not tripping over one another with the lies they are trying to peddle to the public to divert attention from the damning pieces of evidence being unearthed against Corona,” the Palace official said.

Cuevas mum

Also on Tuesday, Cuevas refused to issue any statement on the matter.

The former justice also refused to grant interviews on the report.

On Monday, Cuevas vehemently denied that he had been pressured by Malacañang to abandon the Chief Justice.

Llamas is in hot water after being caught buying pirated DVDS in a mall in Quezon City (Metro Manila).

Palace deputy spokesman Abigail Valte said that Llamas is expected to submit today his response to a memorandum of Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., who directed him to explain why he should not be sanctioned for buying pirated DVDS.