KAWIT, Cavite, Philippines – President Aquino acknowledged Sen. Panfilo Lacson here yesterday for the first time in public since the lawmaker emerged from hiding after being sought in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case.
The President twice met privately with Lacson after the Court of Appeals ruled the warrant for his arrest was without legal basis.
“I’m really glad to be seeing you again,” Aquino said to Lacson, who was one of the guests in the inauguration of the R-1 Expressway Extension of the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway Project that he led here.
In an interview after the event, Lacson revealed it was the third time for him to see the President and the first two meetings with him were private.
Lacson said he and the President only had a chat in the two previous meetings. Lacson denied being offered a position in the Aquino administration.
According to Lacson, the President only mentioned the issue on who could be the next chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during their private chat.
“That’s all there is to it. There was no offer of any Cabinet post. On my part, I think it is unethical for a person to apply for a government job. It’s not only unethical, it’s insulting or annoying to the appointing authority,” Lacson said.
Lacson said there were only three instances when he applied for a job in government – the first was when he sought to become a cadet of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and when he ran for senator in 2001 and in 2007.
“And I don’t have plans to apply for a Cabinet position,” he stressed.
Lacson said it would be up to the appointing authority to look for the right people to join the Cabinet.
Based on his own experience as former chief of the PNP, Lacson said he would have second thoughts hiring someone applying for a job. “Why is this (person) applying, is there nobody getting (this person)?” he asked.
Lacson also said Aquino did not bother to ask him how and where he hid during the more than one year that he evaded arrest.
“He did not want to ask. Maybe he also does not want to know. We did not talk about it. I was not asked. Had he asked me I would have given him a lowdown. That much I can in confidence to a head of state, if he asked I would have given him a lowdown where I had been,” Lacson said.
Lacson also denied communicating with Aquino while in hiding. He said there was one person close to the President giving him feedback but he was not sure whether his communication was reaching Aquino.
“So I cannot say for sure if we really had communication,” Lacson said.
Lacson also said he was puzzled why his name was being floated to replace Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo.
“It is my belief he is doing a fine job as DILG secretary and he should stay there. Why fix it when it’s not broken?” he said.
Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) chairman Antonio Villar said Lacson would make a good DILG chief based on his experience as former chief of the PNP.
“We’ve been hearing many nasty talks about some local government officials. Perhaps Senator Lacson can institute real reforms in DILG,” he said.
“Look what he (Lacson) did to his pork barrel. In his bid to show good example against corruption, he let go of it. Look at the peace and order when he was the PNP chief, lawless elements were afraid then because he meant business,” Villar said.
If the President really wanted to implement reforms, Villar said Lacson “is the guy for DILG.” Malacañang denied offering the top DILG post to Lacson amid reports that arose from the meetings between the President and the senator.
Malacañang, however, expressed hope that the impending extradition of former police officer Michael Ray Aquino would put closure to the Dacer-Corbito double murder case.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the impending return of Aquino might set things straight and would finally put an end to the case.
“Michael Ray Aquino seems to be one of those people with a good grasp of what had happened in the Dacer-Corbito case and with his impending extradition, we hope that his coming back to the country will shed light on the matter and we hope that it will finally put closure to the case,” Valte said.
In November of 2000, publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito were abducted and murdered by still unidentified suspects in Indang, Cavite.
Also implicated in the case were former police colonels Glenn Dumlao and Cezar Mancao who both worked at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force then under the stewardship of Lacson. – With Eva Visperas