Santiago deals below-the-belt blow to Lacson
MANILA, Philippines—After warning that the Senate might collapse if Janet Lim-Napoles’ “list” of lawmakers linked to the pork barrel scam was made public, Panfilo “Ping” Lacson decided to shake the chamber himself.
On Tuesday, the rehabilitation czar finally cut to the chase and released the names of legislators and other personalities supposedly involved in the scandal, based on unsigned documents purportedly given him by the Napoles family.
But Lacson got a nasty, below-the-belt response after he named Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago during a televised interview on Monday night as among those legislators.
Santiago on Tuesday issued a statement ridiculing the manner by which Lacson mentioned her name.
It came during a new segment of ABS-CBN’s late-night “Bandila” newscast, whose format asked Lacson to just say yes or no if a certain government official was on the list.
In the affirmative
Lacson answered in the affirmative when asked if Senators Francis Escudero, Alan Peter Cayetano, Gregorio Honasan, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad and Santiago were on the list.
Senators Franklin Drilon and Teofisto Guingona III were not in the document, said Lacson, who clarified that he based his responses on both the lists coming from Napoles and from whistle-blower Benhur Luy.
“Anyone can make lists. I was told that there is a list entitled ‘Closeted gays or bisexuals in public service,’” Santiago said, apparently questioning Lacson’s sexual preference.
‘I am not gay’
Santiago went on: “I was given names and I was requested to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on whether the person was truly on the list. When the name Pinky Lacson was called, I said ‘yes.’”
Santiago also said: “Anyway, there is an affidavit, although unsigned, circulating in Metro Manila that Pinky Lacson has asked for a leave of absence from Malacañang. The highly confidential reason is that he is scheduled for a gender change operation in a remote clinic in the United States.”
Lacson returned in kind: “A high school classmate, who is now a psychiatrist, once advised me never to react to an insane person. It could be infectious.”
“Anyway, for the nth time, I am not gay. No offense to all the gays in the world, but I do not intend to be one,” Lacson told the Inquirer via Viber.
No dealings
Santiago maintained she had “never had dealings” with Napoles, the alleged mastermind of the P10-billion pork barrel scam.
If unsigned, the list given by Napoles “has no evidentiary value at all,” she said.
The senator, instead, preferred to secure the list prepared by Luy, the main whistle-blower in the multibillion-peso racket.
“I understand that the Luy list is substantiated by documents and details,” she said.
40-page compilation
Lacson said he had seen Luy’s list and warned that Santiago “might just get the biggest surprise of her adult life.”
“She’ll feel like being slapped with 10 kilos of pork when she does,” he said.
Lacson on Tuesday submitted the Napoles documents to the Senate blue ribbon committee, which then released copies to media.
Attached to the 40-page compilation, which included Napoles’ draft affidavit, was a list of 11 former and incumbent senators and 69 members of the House of Representatives, who also included former congressmen.
Incidentally, Santiago was not on the list Lacson submitted to the Senate.
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Lacson to Santiago: I am not gay; You will be surprised by Luy’s list
