Lacson denies knowing new witness

Embattled Sen. Panfilo Lacson categorically denied yesterday having known Indian national Danny Devnani who was presented as a surprise witness during Thursday’s Senate hearing on Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s alleged involvement in criminal activities.

"I don’t know Mr. Devnani," Lacson said in a statement.

The statement quoted jailed former President Joseph Estrada as saying that Devnani was a friend of his arch nemesis, Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya.

Lacson indicated that Devnani, being an ally of Berroya, mouthed nothing but "a pack of lies."

Devnani was presented at the Senate hearing the other day by Col. Victor Corpus, chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The witness linked Lacson, the disgraced president, his son former San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada and suspected gambling lord Charlie "Atong" Ang to the criminal activities of the Kuratong Baleleng gang.

The senator reiterated his challenge for his accusers to file their charges before the courts instead of turning the Senate "into a theater of the absurd," and forcing the chamber to deviate from its main task of legislating.

"Anybody can just come in and spin out a tale and destroy reputations with nary a (thread) of evidence to back it up," Lacson said.

He appealed to journalists to be more circumspect in reporting on the issue and "not to accept the tales of planted witnesses as gospel truth."

"In the spirit of fairness and justice, I demand that my accusers produce official documents and not rely solely on the oral confirmation of an alleged FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) agent of one (bank) account," Lacson said.

"If they are able to produce official documents of even just one account, I will pack my things and go straight to jail," he added.

He asserted that the Senate hearings on his alleged wrongdoing have produced only "perjured testimonies of planted witnesses and unofficial documents."

"The same way that I am prepared to fulfill my promise of going to jail, I also ask Col. Corpus to also make good his promise of resigning and going to jail if he still fails to produce evidence of my alleged wrongdoing," Lacson said. — Mike Frialde, Mayen Jaymalin, Sandy Araneta