Jinggoy bares story on Loida Lewis’ failed bid to buy PNB

Loida Lewis

Aside from being identified  with the “yellow army,” former Senator Jinggoy Estrada also branded Filipino-American philanthropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis  as “anti-Erap” after she allegedly failed to buy the  Philippine National Bank (PNB) during the time of  his father, then President Joseph Estrada.

Lewis is the national chairperson of the US Pinoys for Good Governance (USPGG) that reportedly denied  inviting Estrada to speak before its members  in Michigan  on May 20.

“Had I known that it was Loida who is the chairperson of that organization, I would not have  accepted that invitation,” the former senator said in an interview with reporters on Tuesday.

“In fact, according to the president of the local chapter in Michigan, it’s only now that Mrs. Lewis interfered in the affairs of the local chapter,”   he said.

Asked why he would not have accepted the invite,  Estrada said because Lewis was “anti-Erap” and “anti-Duterte.”

“When my father was President, laging kasama ng nanay ko yan e, when my mother was First Lady. And little did I know  that she needed something from the government, from the administration of my father. She wanted to purchase  the Philippine  National Bank,” said he former senator.

“So when my father entertained the idea, my father instructed the Department of Finance to maybe evaluate if she’s capable of purchasing the Philippine National Bank but apparently when they evaluated the finances of Mrs. Lewis, it turned out that she’s not qualified to purchase the Philippine National Bank at that time.”

“So that started the anti-Erap crusade against my father…Hindi nabigyan. E bakit pagbibigyan hindi  naman pala kaya, kawawa naman ang administrasyon ng tatay ko…,” Estrada  added.

Last month, the Sandiganbayan  granted  Estrada’s request for a   month-long trip to the US with his family, citing the USPGG’s invite for him to speak  before its  members on May 20.

READ: Sandigan Oks Jinggoy’s motion to travel

But Lewis, in a statement, said the group did not  invite the former senator.

READ: No invitation for Jinggoy

Estrada   insisted that he would push  through  with  his trip  after  the chair of the USPGG Michigan chapter, William Dechavez, assured him that he would “standby” the invitation on his personal capacity.

So when asked  if he would  push through with the  trip,  Estrada said: “Yeah. Kung  magulo pa sila baka mag isip na akong hindi pumunta sa Michigan, gastos pa…”

INQUIRER.net is contacting Lewis to get her side on Estrada’s claims./ac

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