Lawyer files ethics complaint vs Ping over Pidal exposé

A lawyer claiming to represent the entire Filipino nation that he said became the intended victim in opposition Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson’s Jose Pidal exposé filed a complaint yesterday against Lacson with the Senate ethics committee.

Ricardo Abcede, national chairman of a group calling itself Filipino Lawyers for Good Governance, told a news conference after filing the complaint that "it was not President Arroyo and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo who were damaged by Senator Lacson’s exposé."

"It is the nation that continues to agonize over the clear abuse of parliamentary immunity by Senator Lacson, as foreign and local investors pull up stakes, as the peso drops, as the stock market takes another plunge, as the banking system is shaken to its very foundations, and as those out to hack away at the country’s democratic institutions get a shot in the arm," he said.

He admitted that complaints lodged with the ethics committee are usually filed by aggrieved parties.

In his case, Abcede said he filed his complaint for the "Filipino nation, the aggrieved party in Senator Lacson’s exposé."

He also admitted that his group supports the Arroyo administration and that he met with the President’s husband and his lawyers to get some evidence before filing his complaint.

But he said he is not lawyering for the First Gentleman, whom Lacson has accused of using the false name Jose Pidal to hide tens of millions in supposedly illegal funds. Arroyo has denied the accusation.

Abcede urged Lacson to support his accusations with hard evidence.

"What we want is for Sen. Lacson to come up with solid evidence," he said.

The opposition senator has submitted to three Senate committees investigating his Jose Pidal exposé an inch-thick folder containing various pieces of evidence to support his accusations against the President’s husband and his alleged "laundry machines," individuals the First Gentleman supposedly used to launder funds.

Largely because of his exposé, President Arroyo’s performance and trust ratings dropped by half in the latest Pulse Asia survey.

Meanwhile, opposition Lacson was summoned anew by Manila City Assistant Prosecutor Alexander Ramos to explain his failure to file a motion to consolidate libel charges filed against him by the First Gentleman and a businessman in connection with the senator’s "Jose Pidal" expose.

Ramos said he will ask Lacson why he failed to file a motion for consolidation, which Lacson’s lawyers vowed to submit during the preliminary investigation on Sept. 22.

"During the preliminary investigation, the senator’s lawyers verbally manifested their intention to consolidate two libel cases against Lacson," Ramos said. "They promised to file the written motion after two or three days (after the preliminary investigation), but I haven’t received any until today."

Due to the manifestation of Lacson’s lawyers, Ramos said he reserved his order for the senator to file his counter-affidavit on the accusation of businessman Kelvin Tan, thus delaying the resolution of the case.

Ramos is investigating the libel charges filed against Lacson by Tan, whom the senator accused of being a "crony" of the First Gentleman.

Besides the libel suit filed by Tan, Lacson also faces 10 counts of libel filed against him by Mr. Arroyo. The lawsuits are now pending before the office of Manila Assistant Prosecutor Nestor Gonzales. — with Cecille Suerte Felipe