Lacson to ‘pork’ colleagues: They’ll have their day in court
Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery Panfilo Lacson is guest of honor at the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Homecoming on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. FRANCES MANGOSING/INQUIRER.net
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Former senator and now rehab czar Panfilo Lacson said that his former colleagues facing alleged involvement in the controversial pork barrel scam “will have their day in court” and “they should really prepare for that.”
“It is saddening. We have a due process, so they will have their day in court. In the evidence that came out, it shows that they should really prepare for that,” Lacson told reporters after the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Homecoming on Saturday.
Lacson had foregone his pork barrel since 2002. He was elected in 2001 and served for two terms.
“More than 10 years ago I made a strong call to forego [pork barrel]. I don’t know if I saw it coming but they said I was a man ahead of my time. But I did not expect, it was just a matter of time that I felt that it would explode. Anything that is abused and done with irregularity is impossible that it will not come out,” he said.
Senators involved in the pork barrel scam were Senators Juan Ponce-Enrile, Ramon “Bong” Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada.
Article continues after this advertisement“Well, we’ll be guided by the evidence as they are being presented. I don’t want to preempt the Ombudsman and the court, but it seems the evidence is strong against them,” Lacson said.
Article continues after this advertisementHe said, however, that not all senators take money from pork barrel.
“But we have also become suspects, because the public has become cynical about the pork barrel. They think if you have pork barrel, you also get money out of it, which is not also true. But we cannot also blame the public because they see it with their own eyes whenever they travel. They see the roads are not well-made. They associate it with kickbacks, why are they made of substandard material if there is not kickback?” he said.
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