BY VANNE TERRAZOLA
Senator Panfilo Lacson distanced from the appointment of former police officer Cezar Mancao II in the Department of Information and Communication Technology’s (DICT) cybercrime unit, saying President Duterte can appoint “an angel or a devil”.
“Two words. Presidential prerogative. The President can appoint an angel, the President can appoint a devil. The President can appoint even Lucifer to any government post, basta (as long as he is a) presidential appointee,” Lacson said in when asked for his comment in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel on Friday.
“That’s all I can say. It’s presidential prerogative,” he added.
Mancao was recently appointed as the executive director in the DICT’s Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC), which is in charge of formulating a national security plan as well as in preparing appropriate and effective measures to prevent and suppress cybercrimes, among others.
He was among those who were charged for the killing of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000. He accused Lacson, who led the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force and the Philippine National Police during the Estrada administration, of involvement in the crime. He also claimed that Lacson had planned to kill him.
In 2015, Mancao retracted his claims and apologized to Lacson and former President Joseph Estrada for implicating them in the murder case. Lacson was already cleared by Court of Appeals, whose decision was also upheld by the Supreme Court.
Lacson previously said that he has forgiven Mancao and his others detractors, but said he would not forget their names. He pushed for heavier penalties for perjury and false testimonies. (Vanne Terrazola)
