MANILA, Philippines – Hosting a party that featured a lewd dance performance right after a Liberal Party (LP) event at his residence is not the first controversy that congressman Benjamin Agarao Jr figured in.

The representative of Laguna’s 4th district, who told a radio station that he’s so straight a man he didn’t find the girls twerking onstage offensive, was also linked to the pork barrel scam.

In May 2014, Agarao was among the congressmen implicated by alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles in the multi-billion-peso scam involving lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel.

Under the scam, lawmakers endorsed Napoles’ fake NGOs as beneficiaries of livelihood projects funded by their PDAF. The amounts, listed under ghost projects and beneficiaries are then divided between the lawmakers, their agents, and Napoles’ syndicate.

Agarao supposedly had as pork barrel agent Catherine Mae “Maya” Santos, a known political organizer and campaign worker who also served as agriculture department official during the time of President Gloria Arroyo.

In her affidavit, Napoles claimed that a project worth P5 million sourced from Agarao’s PDAF was handled by Santos, who then allegedly pocketed P2 million. Napoles was unsure, however, how much Agarao got, saying, “Depende na iyon sa usapan nila.” (It depends on their arrangement.)

Agarao had denied involvement in the PDAF mess, claiming that he was an opposition congressman at the time of the scam, and therefore had difficulty securing PDAF. He was congressman from 2004-2007.

The lewd dance performance on Thursday, October 1, was initially reported as a “gift” from Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Francis Tolentino, who is running as senator in 2016 under the LP banner. Tolentino, however, denied this report, while Agarao also said it was not from Tolentino.

The dancers performed at Agarao’s 58th birthday party, which took place at his house after the LP swore in some local officials as new members. LP standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II presided the oath taking of members, but said he immediately left after the event, which was held at a different area of Agarao’s compound in Laguna.

The said performance drew flak from netizens. LP standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II even disowned the act, saying he “will not tolerate, in any aspect of the campaign, this sort of abuse of women.”

Agarao said would find out who among his friends brought the dancers in the party.

When Agarao got elected as congressman a second time in 2013, he was already with LP.

He ran for representative in 1995 and for re-election as congressman in 2007, but did not win on both instances.

In the current 16th Congress, he was the principal author of only one House bill to date: a measure creating the 5th district of Laguna, carved out of the 4th district.

He was a provincial board member of Laguna’s 4th district from 1992 to 1995, and from 2001 to 2004. In 2010, he ran for mayor of Laguna’s capital, Santa Cruz, but lost.

Agarao is the son of former provincial fiscal Benjamin Agarao Sr. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the Union College of Laguna.

Representative Agarao’s son, Joseph Kris Benjamin, is an incumbent board member of Laguna’s 4th district. – Rappler.com