Baby Arenas tells Ping: You’re so un-Christian

"V.U.C." not "V.S.O.P."

Socialite Rosemarie "Baby" Arenas said yesterday Sen. Panfilo Lacson was "very un-Christian" for involving her in the controversy surrounding the Dec. 5 murder of police Chief Inspector John Campos while she and her family are still mourning her late husband.

Arenas described the accusations of Lacson, an endorser of a local VSOP brandy, as a "blatant lie."

"Maawa naman sila (They should have pity). If this is to divert attention or (part of) muddling the investigation, spare me from it," Arenas told The STAR in an interview. "Leave me alone first. My family and I are still mourning the death of the father of my children."

Arenas’ husband, businessman Ramon Lopez Arenas, die of cancer last Friday.

Lacson earlier claimed that Campos informed him last year that businessman-banker Ernest Escaler, a staff member of Sen. Ralph Recto and Arenas tried to convince him to corroborate the charges made by former anti-narcotics agent Mary "Rosebud" Ong before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee and the Senate committee on public order and safety.

"I don’t know Campos... I resent that I am being dragged into this (controversy)," Arenas said. She also claimed not to know Ong, Campos’ former lover, though she admitted knowing Escaler because of a David Rockefeller concert held recently. She did not elaborate.

Arenas told The STAR that she has "no personal or political interest (in this)... I hope they will not involve me. If it is about culture, music or the canonization of Padre Pio then count me in. But not in this one."

She also said that she does not want to be included in the controversy involving Lacson and his bitter enemy, Philippine National Police Civil Security Group head Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya.

The first and last time she saw Lacson, Arenas claimed, was 10 years ago at a function in Davao City.

Campos was shot dead by a lone assassin while having a snack with a gay companion at a foodhouse in Parañaque before dawn of Dec. 5. Police have yet to provide a clear lead on Campos’ slay or identify the masterminds behind the murder.

Ong, on the day of Campos’ death, blamed Lacson for the killing of her former lover. She claimed that Campos could have been silenced by Lacson’s camp to prevent him from spilling the beans against the senator.

Escaler denied any involvement in the attempt to convince Campos to testify against Lacson.