In the spirit of the Holy Week, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson, a former fugitive during the Arroyo administration, has forgiven his political enemies.
“Tapos na meditation ko kasi tapos na penitensya ko under ex-President (Gloria Macapagal) Arroyo and her cohorts, kasama na ’yung courtesy of then SoJ (Secretary of Department of Justice) and now Senator Leila de Lima. I have forgiven them all,’’ he stressed.
In a statement sent to Senate reporters, Lacson said he was told that former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) intelligence chief Victor Corpus “aired a public apology over GNN asking for my forgiveness for reportedly maligning my person after being taken for a ride by Ador Mawanay and several people.
“I hope the others will do the same, including some media outlet that did the same to my person,’’ he added.
Nevertheless, Lacson said the Corpus apology is “long in coming.’’
“I still appreciate his gesture of humility and courage in doing so. Needless to say, I accept his apology. Yes, I was informed that Corpus has finally admitted publicly that he had unjustly wronged me by being taken for a ride by a ‘fraud,’ obviously referring to Angelo ‘Ador’ Mawanay, who himself had retracted 13 years earlier, even pointing to those who were responsible in suborning him to commit perjury against me,’’ he said.
Both are graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
“In the spirit of fairness and balanced reporting, I think it is but proper and decent for those who relied heavily on their statements, as the central characters responsible for incessantly maligning my reputation to follow suit, or at least make amends, not pecuniarily, but simply to restore the moral damage they have done to my dignity and honor,’’ he said.
Lacson had gone into hiding during the Arroyo administration and was similarly hounded by then DoJ Secretary De Lima.
The double murder case lodged against him arising from the double murder of Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver, during the Estrada administration was ordered dismissed by the Court of Appeals (CA) during the Aquino administration.
There were reports then that Lacson sought refuge in Macao while others said he was just hiding in Cagayan province. (Mario Casayuran)
