Lacson to grill De Lima at CA for 'undermining' PNoy

(Updated 3:29 p.m.) Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday said he will bring to the attention of the Commission on Appointments (CA) the statements of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima's that he said tend to "undermine" President Benigno Aquino III. "She will have to explain before the CA [her] pronouncements that put [the] appointing authority [on the spot]," Lacson, who is a member of the CA, said during a weekly forum at the Senate. He specifically cited how De Lima supposedly said that she would be "dismayed" if Aquino will not adopt the recommendations of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) – which she headed – on the investigation on the August 23 hostage tragedy in Manila last year where eight tourists from Hong Kong were killed. "Where in the world would you find a Cabinet member who would put the President on the spot?" Lacson said, adding that De Lima should not have said that her findings were the same with that of Hong Kong authorities. "Parang sinasabi niya mali ang presidente (It's like she's saying that the President was wrong)," he added. Aside from this, Lacson said De Lima should not have said that she hopes the President would "do the right thing" in the case of Bureau of Corrections Director Ernesto Diokno, who resigned over the alleged VIP treatment of some privileged inmates in state prisons nationwide. "In effect na-figure out na niya ang tama, ang President di pa (She was saying, in effect, that she has already figured out the right thing while the President has not). These are some of the questions I may pursue," he said. Reacting to Lacson's statement, De Lima justified her previous actions and said that "anything that I do is what I think is consistent with the Constitution, the law and my conscience." Defending her decision to hold ranking officials liable for the August 2009 hostage tragedy, De Lima said: "I don't care at all who are the personalities involved and I never take things personally. Trabaho lang lang iyan. That's all." De Lima had earlier said she expects several questions to be raised regarding her position, saying that the Department of Justice has a lot of "challenges and responsibilities." De Lima was critical of Lacson when he was evading arrest for his alleged involvement in the November 2000 killings of publicist Salvador "Bubby" Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito. She even ordered a reinvestigation after the Court of Appeals junked the case. The CA is composed of the Senate president as its head and 12 senators and 12 lawmakers from the Lower House. Its duty is to confirm appointments made by the President of the Philippines. Subjects for appoint are heads of the executive departments, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, or officers of the Armed Forces from the rank of colonel or naval captain, except those of the Ombudsman and Supreme Court justices. The CA discusses and deliberates on nominations at the standing committee level and at the plenary session. Nominations or appointments may end up being confirmed, rejected or bypassed. The CA, however, has yet to schedule a hearing for the appointment of De Lima. — with Sophia Dedace/LBG/KBK, GMA News