Panfilo Lacson should present case in court

From the very day that Sen. Panfilo Lacson aired his expose on First Gentlemen Mike Arroyo’s alleged Jose Pidal account, we advised him to present his charges in the proper venue which is our courts. He did not heed our advice and now it is he that has a case in court filed against him by Mike Arroyo himself – 10 charges of libel officially filed in the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office. This case could not have been filed if Sen. Lacson had filed his complaint in court. The court would then decide if those indeed is a valid complaint of graft and corruption against Mike Arroyo.

Lacson’s charges against Mike Arroyo is doing President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo’s administration a lot of harm. Rallyists are demonstrating in front of the building owned by Arroyo in Makati City and the signs they carry say, "Conjugal Corruption!" If there is no case filed against Arroyo in court, how can President Macapagal be dragged into the picture?

In the meantime, Marine troopers have had to be stationed along EDSA because of intelligence reports that some anti-governmment forces were getting ready for another power grab. The issues facing the nation today are not issues that can be decided by military force or people’s power. They are issues that only a court of law can decide.

Mike Arroyo is accused of amassing illegal wealth under the name of Jose Pidal. Yet, Sen. Lacson himself says that the illegal wealth was acquired through election contributions. That will not stand in court because election contributions cannot be classified as money laundering or illegally acquired. As we constantly repeat, Sen. Lacson should present his charges in the proper court of law and not in a privileged speech or in media.

Joker Arroyo was right when he said that for any People’s Power movement to succeed, it needs support from the military and popular support from the people.

As it is now, it is actually Sen. Lacson who has already two pending criminal charges filed against him since last year. Deputy Speaker for Visayas Raul Gonzales (Iloilo) has questioned why Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo and Deputy Ombudsman Margarito Simeon have to this day not even initiated the preliminary investigation on the case. He added that the Ombudsman is in possession of documents by the US Attorney General on Lacson’s alleged secret bank accounts and properties abroad.

All we are asking is that both the alleged issues of Mike Arroyo and Sen. Panfilo Lacson be taken up in court and not just aired in media. Arroyo has stated that he will welcome the opportunity to answer the charges against him in court. Can Sen. Lacson say the same thing?