Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. and his son Sagay Mayor Alfredo Marañon III yesterday denied receiving any government funds through non-government organizations connected to Janet Lim Napoles and of having any dealings with her.

The father and son issued the denial after their names were included in the purported files of Benhur Luy, the former finance officer of Napoles, as reported by the Philippine Daily Inquirer yesterday.

Former Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) had no reaction to his inclusion in the list.
The governor, who was congressman of the second district of Negros Occidental from 1995 to 2004, was on the Luy list for an alleged fertilizer and water system supply allocation, which he denied having received.

“My conscience is clear, I can sleep well," he said.

He pointed out that the published list of Luy, in fact, showed that there was no Special Allotment Release Order issued to him for such items.

“It’s hard enough to get government money with a SARO, how much more with no SARO,” he said.

And after a SARO is issued, one needs a Notice of Cash Allotment to get funds, he said.

“It is easy to make a list and put one’s name on it...I will write the Inquirer to please furnish us the documents if they have any,” he said.
Marañon said the inclusion of his name in the list may be related to an offer made to him and several others officials of Negros Occidental before the May 2004 elections for millions of pesos in fertilizer allocation from the Department of Agriculture to be released through a Manila based NGO that they did not know.

"We did not accept the offer, we did not sign the papers brought to us because it was so “garapal (crude)”, we could not stomach it anymore," he said.
It was supposed to be liquefied fertilizer, in other words, water, he said.
He said papers were brought to Negros for them to sign to avail of the alleged fertilizer allocation from the Department of Agriculture and they were told they would be given 30 percent of the amount allocated
The governor said he does not remember the person who brought the papers as it was 10 years ago, but he, his brother, the late Gov. Joseph Marañon, then Vice Gov. Isidro Zayco, Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson and then Cadiz Mayor Salvador Escalante turned down similar offers because they were dubious.

“Isuspect that is why our names are on that list but we refused to accept the offer,” he said.

He said the inclusion of his name on the list is not disturbing it’s exasperating.
The offer was made to them sometime in March before the May 2004 elections, the governor said.

In 2004 the Marañons supported the presidential bid of Fernando Poe over Gloria Arroyo.

Asked if he would be willing to testify on the matter, the governor said “I will testify that I had no SARO, I did not receive anything.”

Meanwhile, the governor's son Alfredo Marañon III,former 2nd district representative and now mayor of Sagay City, said "I'm surprised why my name was included in the list...I have had no dealings with Napoles or any of her companies. My conscience is clear and I'm confident that will clear, my name."
The Inquirer special report itself states that there was no SARO released to him, the mayor said.

“It reinforces what I had said that I had no dealings with Napoles. No SARO was released. Meaning I did not receive anything implied,” he added.

The PDI report said Alfredo III allegedly dealt with Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. and Jo Cris Trading, which he denied.*CPG

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