Actress Maricel Soriano admitted that she formerly owned the condominium unit which was the subject of a supposed anti-illegal drug operation back in 2012 by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
She disclosed this on Tuesday, May 7, during the continuation of the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chaired by Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa into the alleged leakage of confidential PDEA documents.
She mentioned however that she already sold the property in the same year, but she can no longer recall what month.
The first hearing stemmed from the interview of PDEA agent Jonathan Morales with a vlogger regarding the leakage of a confidential document that contained the alleged involvement of President Marcos and Soriano in illegal drugs.
This was based on the pre-operation report that was penned by Morales himself.
According to the document, dated March 11, 2012, a confidential informant personally appeared before PDEA to report that a group of showbiz and political personalities are frequently using illegal drugs at unit 46-C, Rizal Tower Building, in Rockwell located in Makati City.
This is the same unit that Soriano admitted she formerly owned.
There was also a separate document providing authority to operate for surveillance and casing in Makati City that involved vehicles that belonged to the PDEA. Yet this did not push through, according to Morales.
The veteran actress was also asked about the veracity of the leaked documents.
"Unang-una po hindi ko ho alam yung tungkol sa mga dokumento. Nalaman ko na lang yan nung pinakita sa akin dahil hindi po ako nagbabasa ng mga ganyan (First of all, I know nothing of those documents. I only knew of that when it was shown to me since I do not read any of these things)," she said.
She also denied allegations of cocaine use that were hurled at her in 2011 by her two former household workers who left her condominium after she beat up both of them. She said that the two left because they robbed her.
In a separate statement that she read, she said that it was her first time to receive an invitation to face Senate.
"Nakakakaba at nakakatakot. Sa totoo lang po, hindi malinaw sa akin kung bakit ako naimbitahan sa hearing. Nagtataka lang po ako dahil lahat po ng tumestigo dito ay nagsabi hindi na-verify ang impormasyon ni Mr. Morales at walang imbestigasyon na naganap (It's unnerving and frightening. As a matter of fact, it's not clear to my as to why I was invited here. I'm just confused because all who testified here said that the information from Mr. Morales was not verified and no investigation occurred)," she said.