Lacson: Ridiculous for me to execute my own witness

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson described as "not only illogical but outright ridiculous" the claim of Eugenio "Udong" Mahusay that his security men were out to silence his own star witness against the First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

He said Mahusay must be under intense pressure from Malacañang to turn against him.

Mahusay had said in a TV interview that he overheard his security escorts talking about "silencing" him after his testimony against the First Gentleman was no longer needed. Mahusay then asked his relatives to fetch him from a Tagaytay safehouse.

He said lawyer Mat Defensor, father of President Arroyo’s housing secretary Mike Defensor, is the Palace-appointed handler of his former witness.

Lacson said one lie being peddled by Defensor is that Mahusay was under duress while under the senator’s protective custody.

He stressed that fortunately, Mahusay admitted on the "Dong Puno Live" television show Thursday night that he and his family had a four-day vacation — from Aug. 10 to 14 — at Panglao Resort in Bohol, two days before Lacson put him under his protective custody.

"Udong’s statement belies the claim by his wife, Julie Ann, and brothers Ferdinand and Joseph (Jojo) that Udong Mahusay lost contact with his family for two months and that he was held against his will and forced to testify against Mike Arroyo," he added.

Lacson also pointed to the fact that his former witness kept his cellular phone and requested for another mobile phone as proof that Mahusay was not under duress.

He said Udong asked for the other phone so he could not be traced when calling his wife.

Last July 21, Mahusay executed an affidavit in which he claimed he saw his ninong "Atty. Mike" sign checks in the millions as Jose Pidal before sending him to the bank to encash those checks.

He said he deposited in and withdrew millions from the Pidal account and the accounts of the two Tohs and Tan in UnionBank (Perea branch).

He also said he served his ninong "Atty. Mike" and Vicky Toh with red wine until 10 in the evening whenever his ninang, Mrs. Arroyo, was away on provincial trips.

He also bought red roses for Toh on Valentine’s Day upon Mr. Arroyo’s instruction, he added.

Mahusay has not retracted his sworn statement, but Lacson expects him to recant now that he is in the Arroyo camp.

Former senator Rene Saguisag has described Onyok (which was how Mahusay introduced himself to him) as a credible witness who showed no signs of fear, hesitation or prevarication.

Saguisag was with a group of lawyers who, upon Lacson’s request, tested the credibility of his witness three days before he was "abducted" or "rescued."

Lacson also said Malacañang has a lot of explaining to do for deploying two presidential choppers and members of the Presidential Security Group in helping Mike Defensor "rescue" Udong and transporting him to Manila.

"It is really ironic that the Palace can send two choppers for a witness against the First Gentleman and yet it cannot provide military helicopters to evacuate wounded soldiers and policemen from combat zones as alleged by members of the Magdalo group of young officers," he said.