Ping seeking US aid for foundation

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Panfilo Lacson denied seeking US support yesterday for an alleged plan to take over the government.

Lacson said he was seeking US government aid for the PNP, and has "no intention of getting involved in politics."

"It was an official trip. We are following up the commitment of the Foreign Operations and the Appropriations Committee of the US Congress to donate $26 million to the PNP Foundation," Lacson said in a statement through PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome.

"Assuming control of the country’s political leadership has never entered my mind," Lacson added. "I am a police officer, not a politician, and the only political act that I have engaged in is to cast my vote during elections."

President Estrada yesterday dismissed the unconfirmed reports as "preposterous," saying that the police and military would "remain neutral" in the political crisis rocking the presidency.

Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said Lacson’s trip was authorized by the President.

Senior Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, Lacson’s deputy in the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, added that his boss is in the US to receive an award from the American Society of Industrial Security in Alexandria, Virginia.

The PNP earlier said that Lacson’s trip was official but fueled suspicions when it balked about the nature and purpose of the trip.

Lacson left for Washington via Hong Kong on Nov. 28 at the height of the anti-Estrada rallies clamoring for Mr. Estrada’s resignation over the jueteng bribery scandal. He is expected to arrive in Manila late tonight.

"Why the mystery?" former President Fidel Ramos wondered. He added that as a rule, public officials like Lacson are required to inform Malacañang the reason for their absence if it exceeds two days.

Alarmed by the report, opposition congressman Rep. Ernesto Herrera (Lakas, Bohol) said if Lacson is indeed preparing a coup, that is "tantamount to treason."

Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. said Washington will oppose any government takeover.

Siazon and the US Embassy said Lacson met with US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who is keen on security in the Asia-Pacific region, and Defense Assistant Secretary for International Security Affairs Franklin Kramer.

"But I do know that if it is to sell himself, our officers would pick that up and they would report that. So far there is no report," Siazon said.

Lacson’s denial came following Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s claims that he is seeking US support for his plan to take over the government if President Estrada is acquitted in his impeachment trial, or if Arroyo assumes the presidency.

Arroyo said she got her information from intelligence reports and sources in the US.

She also suspects that Lacson is trying to persuade alleged gambling lord Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda to testify in an impeachment hearing against her in the House of Representatives.

Lacson denied Arroyo’s accusations. "I have not talked to Mr. Pineda and I have no intention of meeting with him or talking to him. We have nothing to discuss," he said.

Magalong doubted the veracity of Arroyo’s information. "We do not want to speculate on the reasons why these kind of reports come up. It is a bad intelligence report. If you know General Lacson, you would know that he is not interested in politics," he said.

"Not once did he think of getting into politics," Zamora said.

Herrera said Lacson’s trip could be an Estrada plot "so that in case (Mr. Estrada) is convicted (in the impeachment trial), there will be a plan B to ensure that he won’t be criminally prosecuted by the next administration."

An Estrada protégé, Lacson is a key ally of the President. He headed a police task force in the now-defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, headed by then Vice President Estrada. – With Marichu Villanueva, Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica, Jose Aravilla, Mayen Jaymalin, Jose Rodel Clapano