Lacson prods Alvarez, Arroyo on opportunists vs real friends

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson: To ex-Spkr Alvarez and Spkr Arroyo: At some point, we all have to deal with two kinds of friends. Those who envy you drop out on your way up. The opportunists drop out on your way down. The third kind is rare… Those who stay with you whether you’re up or down.”  (PRIB Photo by Cesar Tomambo/ 11 January 2018)

Senator Panfilo Lacson gave a gentle reminder to two leaders of the House of Representatives, who hogged the limelight during last Monday’s State of the Nation Adress (Sona).

“To ex-Spkr Alvarez and Spkr Arroyo: At some point, we all have to deal with two kinds of friends. Those who envy you drop out on your way up. The opportunists drop out on your way down,” Lacson wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

He was referring to Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, who was unseated and replaced by former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in a surprise move just minutes before President Rodrigo Duterte’s Sona last July 23.

READ: With House sound system dead, Arroyo takes oath as new Speaker

“The third kind is rare,” he added, referring to friends who are “true and real.”

“Those who stay with you whether you’re up or down,” the senator said in a subsequent text message when asked to elaborate on his statement.

Lacson cited as example his personal experience when he was appointed chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) during the time of the President Joseph Estrada.

“Nung na appoint akong CPNP, some ‘friends’ dropped out and even tried to pull me down. New ‘friends’ proliferated,” he noted.

“When Erap (Estrada’s nickname) was ousted and I resigned, nawala lahat. May natirang konti. They are the rare kind,” the senator further explained.

Lacson earlier described the power grab in the House as “awkward, low, ugly, and disgraceful.”

READ: Lacson twits House coup: Awkward, low, ugly, disgraceful

The senator also warned that Arroyo’s ascension to the House Speakership could be a “prelude” for her to become the first prime minister of the country.

“If GMA’s (Arroyo’s initials) ascension to the speakership is a prelude to becoming prime minister, they better think twice because the Senate, both majority and minority have agreed to close ranks to defend and assert our role under the 1987 Constitution in revising or amending the same,” Lacson said Tuesday.  /kga

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