Lacson: Kidnap raps just 'harassment'

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Panfilo Lacson assailed yesterday the revival of the kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against him, saying it was part of the Arroyo administration’s non-stop harassment of him for being one of its critics.

Lacson said he does not see any other reason why the cases that had been dismissed in 2002 would still be recycled by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

The CIDG accused Lacson and 17 other former policemen of involvement in the kidnapping of Chong Hiu Ming on Dec. 30, 1998 and Wong Kam Chong on Mar. 26, 1999.

Upon reviewing the referral made to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Lacson said the only basis cited for charging was the letter of the Chinese embassy’s consul general about the disappearance of the two, which he supposedly did not act on.

“They said I did not do anything to rescue (the two Chinese nationals). I served the (PNP) well, I don’t know why they would refer such a case repeatedly using the same evidence,” Lacson said over radio station dwIZ.

“It’s a remix with the same lyrics and composition but probably different artists and musical director. The DOJ referred to the Ombudsman due to lack of jurisdiction. The Ombudsman dismissed the case of kidnapping with serious illegal detention for lack of probable cause but filed a case of direct bribery against some PNP officers. It is now pending in the Sandiganbayan,” Lacson said.

Lacson said some “thick-faced” and bootlicking members of the Arroyo administration, who wanted to score brownie points by putting him in jail during their last few months in power, were the ones behind the charges against him.

“When will they stop harassing me? Is this administration desperately racing against time to make my life miserable before President Arroyo steps down? It is a sad commentary that the PNP, which I served well, is allowing itself to be used as tool by Mrs. Arroyo and her bunch of bootlickers. I have been subjected to this kind of harassment since 2001 and so far there is no letup,” he said. 

Lacson said he would have to spend for lawyers and attend to these cases, which he described as fabrications to persecute him.

The others charged with two counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom were former police official Reynaldo Acop, Chief Inspector Avelino Abogado, Senior Inspector Cesar Aquino, lawyer Evaristo Gana, and former senior superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, who has yet to be extradited from the United States where he was arrested for espionage.

Also charged were Superintendents Francisco Villaroman and Teofilo Andrada; Inspector Dennis Reed Tuvera; SPO3 Mabini Rosale; SPO2 Cresencio Purugganan; SPO2 Antonio Ventura; SPO3 Noel Almerino; and SPO1 Danilo Castro.

The alleged kidnappings took place when Lacson was the head of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Group (PAOCTF).

Police said the two victims remain missing despite a decade-old search for them.

The CIDG used 27 witnesses, including former police informant Mary “Rosebud” Ong, who said in their affidavits that the victims were not released despite the payment of huge ransom by their families to the kidnappers.

The senator is also being linked to the double murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver, Emmanuel Corbito.

Lacson had initially announced his intention to run for president in 2010, but decided to abandon his plans after the revival of the Dacer-Corbito case.