Palace exec: Lacson still an ally

As far as Malacañang is concerned, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who surfaced Saturday after 13 months of hiding, remains an ally of the Aquino administration. “Well, I know that [President Benigno Aquino III] and Senator Lacson were good friends in their days at the Senate. I don’t see any reason why that has changed," said Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, in an interview with reporters on Monday. Lacson returned to the country Saturday, more than a month after the Court of Appeals ordered with finality the nullification of the arrest warrants against him and the charges lodged against him for his alleged involvement in the November 2000 killings of publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and Dacer’s driver Emmanuel Corbito. He held a press briefing at the Senate earlier in the day. Carandang said the administration had nothing to do with Lacson’s reappearance as it could not have ordered the appellate court to junk the case against the senator.

“We’ve had many disagreements with the judiciary and I think most of the public believe that the judiciary is independent—that’s putting it mildly. So I don’t know where the speculation is coming from," he said. He said people who entertain such speculations should “come out and show some evidence instead of springing it out there in the public without any basis." Carandang further said that Lacson’s statement saying that he feels he is still being persecuted by the current administration is a proof that the Palace has nothing to do with the favorable development in his case. “You can’t have it both ways—speculate that we’re doing something to help Sen. Lacson and then Sen. Lacson is publicly complaining about how he was treated even under this administration. So it’s one or the other," he said. Carandang also noted that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is “very vigilant" in pursuing the case against Lacson. “I think that should belie any kind of suggestion or speculation that there was some kind of interference from the Palace," he said. Asked if President Aquino would meet with Lacson, Carandang said they have yet to receive any request from the senator. “I haven’t asked him (President) whether he would want to meet with Sen. Lacson. But, right now, offhand I don’t see any reason why the President would not meet with any senator who wants to speak with him," he said. - KBK, GMA News