Rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson defended himself on Friday against Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s objection to proposals that he should be appointed anti-crime czar to solve the rising crime rate in the country.
Santiago, in a resolution filed Tuesday, described the proposal as “unfathomable.”
Sought to react to the senator’s statement, Lacson said: “When she announced that she was suffering from Stage 4 cancer which doctors say is irreversible, I already stated that I will continue to pray for her miraculous recovery. It goes without saying that I will no longer react negatively to whatever tirades she may direct against me.
“Having said that, I respect her personal opinion against me possibly leading the anti-crime efforts of the government,” he said.
Lacson said he also agreed with Santiago’s observation that Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas “has the competence and capability to address the problems currently besetting the PNP (Philippine National Police) and that he needs all the support of the community in that regard.”
“Without mental reservation, I will simply let my record as CPNP (chief PNP) from late 1999 to early 2001 speak for itself, particularly in terms of crime prevention and suppression, police integrity and discipline, and most significantly, the much improved public perception towards the PNP,” he said.
Lacson was former chief of the PNP during the time of then President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada before he became senator and now as presidential assistant for rehabilitation and recovery tasked to head the reconstruction efforts of the government in provinces devastated by Supertyphoon “Yolanda”.
Lacson incurred the ire of Santiago after he defended then Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile at the height of the Senate fund controversy.
Enrile, along with Senators Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., are detained at the Camp Crame in Quezon City on plunder charges in connection with the “pork barrel” scam.
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