Santiago says ex-fugitive Lacson unfit to handle pork probe

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and former Senator Panfilo Lacson . INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Thursday scoffed at the idea that former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson – a former policeman and a “self-interested” politician whom she repeatedly called as “Pinky Lacson”- would help investigate the pork barrel scam.

Santiago said Lacson could not act as adviser or consultant to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee “because he is a former fugitive from justice who remains unpunished and serves as the poster boy for people like Napoles, who has disappeared to evade a warrant of arrest, just like he did.”

Napoles is Janet Lim-Napoles, who had allegedly used the legislators’ priority development assistance fund (PDAF) or “pork barrel” to fund her fake non-government organizations. She has been in hiding after a warrant of arrest was issued against her for alleged illegal detention of whistle-blower Benhur Luy.

“A policeman cannot be adviser to a Senate committee probing the pork barrel, because this is a question of law.  He has no clue on how the law proceeds in these cases.  After a cop finishes his investigation, the report is submitted to the prosecutor, not the other way around,” Santiago said of Lacson in a statement.

It was Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano who proposed that Lacson be appointed as a “special, independent” investigator to the blue ribbon committee, which is set to hold its investigation next week into the pork barrel scam.

But Santiago said Lacson could not be expected to be independent and objective against Senator Ramon “Bong Revilla Jr., whose son had defeated the former senator’s son in Cavite during the last elections.

Revilla was one of the five senators prominently listed as having given their PDAFs to questionable NGOs.

“Pinky Lacson is a political ally of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.  At the same time, Lacson is the political enemy of Senator Revilla.  Lacson has no acquaintance with the law, but has revealed his propensity for citing the law after confused coaching by his lawyers.  A self-taught lawyer is a menace to society,” Santiago said.

Santiago also linked efforts to nominate Lacson as adviser in the Senate pork probe to efforts to eliminate Revilla and other senators from the 2016 elections, either by running for president or vice-president.

“In the investigation of the pork barrel scam, the last thing we need is a self-interested politician,” she said.

“I stand by my original proposal that if the Senate insists on conducting its own probe, the result should be submitted to an independent impartial panel of investigators consisting of former Supreme Court chief justices and associate justices,” she added.