Staunch Lacson critic out of Witness Protection Program–De Lima

MANILA, Philippines — Mary “Rosebud” Ong is no longer under the government’s witness protection program, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Tuesday.

“I just signed the termination,” De Lima told the Senate finance committee deliberating on the proposed budget of the Department of Justice.

She said she signed the paper based on the assessment by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that the threats to the life of Ong, had been reduced considerably.

“There’s no threat in the first place. Imagined threat,” said Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, who first informed the committee that Ong had been removed from the witness protection program.

Ong was a former anti- narcotics civilian agent and Lacson’s long-time critic.

She accused Lacson of alleged drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, and summary executions at the onset of the Arroyo administration in 2001.