Gov’t has nothing on me in Kuratong case — Lacson

Presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo Lacson told the Supreme Court recently that the government never had evidence to pin him down on the Kuratong Baleleng rubout case, but would like to revive it at this time for political purposes.

Lacson said yesterday that he will detail in a privilege speech on Monday how First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo "actively participated in most of the efforts to do me in through substantial fabrication and vilification."

The senator lamented that he has been the subject of several accusations, including his alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade, kidnap-for-ransom activities, and illegal gambling.

Lacson said the criminal case filed against him for the alleged killing of 11 suspected members of the the Kuratong Baleleng gang should be dismissed because the prescription period for the revival of the case had lapsed.

The senator presented these arguments in a 38-page consolidated reply, dated Aug. 14, to the comment made by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on a motion for reconsideration he filed earlier.

Lacson’s motion for reconsideration sought a reversal of the Apr. 1 decision of the Supreme Court ordering the Quezon City regional trial court to proceed with hearing the case.

The Supreme Court had ruled that the government managed to revive the case within the two-year period required under Section 8, Rule 117 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.

The Supreme Court said that since the new rule took effect on Dec. 1, 2000 while the previous cases against Lacson were dismissed on March 29 the previous year, the period from Apr. 1, 1999 to Nov. 30, 1999 should be excluded from the computation of the two-year prescription period since the rule was then not in effect.

If the new rule is applied retroactively, the government would have only one year and three months, until Mar. 31, 2001, to revive the criminal cases. This is several months short of the two-year period fixed under the new rule, the Supreme Court said.

One major point of contention in the Kuratong Baleleng case is whether government prosecutors managed to press charges against Lacson and his co-accused within the two-year prescription period for provisionally dismissed cases.

Lacson said the government should not be allowed to take "its sweet time" in prosecuting cases because it would violate the rights of the accused.

He said the petitioners had no regard for his peace of mind and reputation, and accused them of intentionally prolonging the prosecution of the case.

"It was the petitioners’ intention to drag the Kuratong Baleleng cases out, for all its media mileage, perhaps even beyond the 2004 elections, if not for the timely promulgation of Section 8, Rule 117," Lacson said.

He added that the Mar. 27, 2001 letter of then Philippine National Police chief Director General Leandro Mendoza to the Department of Justice could not be considered a complaint as defined by the rules of court and should not have prompted a new preliminary investigation.

Lacson’s lawyers said the letter should have been accompanied by the affidavits of the complainant and the witnesses. — With Edith Regalado