Escaler denies asking Campos to talk against Lacson

Businessman-banker Ernest Escaler denied yesterday any involvement in an attempt to convince slain police Chief Inspector John Campos to corroborate the charges of Mary "Rosebud" Ong against Sen. Panfilo Lacson, as alleged by the lawmaker.

Escaler told The STAR he first met Campos only a few months ago.

"The last time I saw him (Campos) was at the Lagi Kitang Naaalala concert at the CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) last September," he said.

"I never asked him (Campos) to do anything. Why will I ask him to do anything like that? I have absolutely no interest," Escaler added.

Lacson claimed Campos had disclosed to him last year that Escaler, socialite Rosemarie "Baby" Arenas and a staff member of Sen. Ralph Recto had tried to convince the police officer to corroborate the charges made by Ong before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and Senate committee on public order and illegal drugs.

Recto denied the claim. He admitted he was a friend of Campos but that all he told the police officer was to tell the whole truth to the Senate hearing panel.

Lacson confirmed tabloid reports, quoting unnamed sources, on the alleged statement of Campos that the three had wanted him to affirm the claims of Ong. He said that Campos personally told him that Escaler and Arenas tried to bribe him into backing up Rosebud’s testimony.

"In the case of Senator Recto, I don’t think any money was offered," Lacson added.

He said that Campos told him this last year but he kept quiet about the whole thing "because the Senate was then deeply divided and I did not want to exacerbate the situation."

Recto expressed dismay that Lacson should be quoting a person who is already dead and could no longer deny or confirm the statement attributed to him.

He said that he became close to Campos before he ran for the Senate because a number of Campos’ classmates at the Philippine Military Academy were also his former classmates in Batangas.

"When the Senate investigation came up, Campos came to me for advice and I told him to tell nothing but the truth. If a person is your friend, you would not tell him to lie," Recto said.

He said that before the Senate hearing, he never knew anything about Campos’ relations with Ong.

"If you will notice, I never involved myself in political issues. All my press releases concerned only economic issues. I did not attend even a single hearing of the public order and illegal drugs (committee)," Recto said.

He said that he attended the last day of the wake of Campos in Cebu because even the entire Campos family had become his friends.

Meanwhile, Lacson lamented that the leadership of the Philippine National Police appeared to have treated Campos as a virtual outcast.

He charged that he did not notice even a single wreath of condolence from the PNP leadership at Campos’ wake.

"We did not even see any representative of the PNP high command there, and this is deeply resented by us and member of Campos’ Hinirang Class ’87," Lacson said.

He added that on the day Campos’ body was brought to Camp Crame, high officials who were then holding a command conference nearby, did not even bother to look at Campos’ body after the conference.

He said that his group is now collating bits and pieces of Campos’ assassination, including the testimony of some witnesses. He said they would turn these over to authorities when they are sure that the pieces of evidence could not be twisted. – Efren Danao