South Cotabato Rep. 1st District Rep. Darlene Antonino Custodio scored Wednesday her political opponent Manny Pacquiao for accusing her family of involvement in an alleged assassination plot against him.
Custodio said she is saddened that Pacquiao is using an unverified maritime police report to link her father, former mayor Adelbert Antonino, to the alleged slay plot against the boxing champ.
She said the Antonino family has never been involved in election-related violence. Moreover, she added, General Santos City does not have a history of poll-related violence.
“The report that Manny got is from raw intelligence. It hasn’t passed through the [Philippine National Police] hierarchy. Even the chief of the maritime police said he has yet to verify it,” Custodio told ABS-CBN’s “Magandang Umaga Pilipinas.”
“That kind of accusation should not be given weight especially if it doesn’t have basis,” she added.
Custodio said she felt bad about the accusation after she promised Pacquiao that they would remain friends even after the elections. “I felt bad about his accusations against my father. This is not only hurtful to my family but also for the residents of General Santos City because we are peace-loving people,” she said.
Pacquiao earlier told reporters that the Antonino family was offering P100 million to have him killed before the May elections. He said he received the report from a certain Pedro Pastor, a village intelligence officer of the PNP-Maritime office.
Pacquiao said he would not believe the plot if it did not came from the police. “It’s not bad to believe the PNP. That is their intelligence report,” he said.
He also accused the congresswoman of letting her father run politics in General Santos City.
