Iggy to Lacson: ‘I won’t run away from charges like you did’

The “word war" between Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy" Arroyo continues, this time with Arroyo zeroing in on Lacson’s supposed cowardice in facing charges filed against him. In a statement Thursday, Arroyo said he is ready to face charges if there is evidence to prove that the “Jose Pidal" account, which he said he owns, was used for money laundering. “I will face these charges in court and will not run away," said Arroyo, brother-in-law of former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Arroyo said he will not flee from the charges like what Lacson did when accused of involvement in the double murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby" Dacer and Dacer’s driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. Arroyo maintained that the issues Lacson wants to raise are “old" and “rehashed." In 2003, Lacson accused Arroyo’s brother, then First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, of keeping a secret bank account under the fictitious name of “Jose Pidal" to launder money during the incumbency of his wife. When the issue was investigated by the Senate, Iggy Arroyo admitted ownership to the controversial account. But on Monday, Lacson said he has new evidence proving that the Negros lawmaker is not the owner of the bank account, but another member of their family. Lacson also accused Arroyo of evading a new investigation on the issue, after the congressman called the investigation “a monumental waste of time." Arroyo, for his part, wondered why Lacson has been “hitting the Arroyo family from all sides" almost a year after he went out of hiding. Lacson fled the country in January last year after the court issued a warrant of arrest against him for his alleged involvement in the Dacer-Corbito murders. He cited "harassment" from the Arroyo administration as his reason for leaving the Philippines. The senator returned to the country in March this year after the Court of Appeals ordered the dismissal of the charges against him. - KBK, GMA News