Thursday, September 25, 2008 Lacson: Villar must be replaced
SAYING the Senate had been left "leaderless" for the last two weeks since the controversy on "budgetary insertions" came out, opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson said Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. should be replaced.
"It is very disappointing. When you are a leader you stay in the battlefields, in the frontlines. You don't stay in the headquarters. That's not a good sign of a leader. If he wants to lead the country well, he should lead the Senate well," said Lacson.
Lacson issued the statement Wednesday during the weekly forum at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.
"Personally, I think, he (Villar) should be replaced. He does not deserve to be there with his recent behavior," he added.
At the forum, Lacson also questioned Villar's absence in the chamber's plenary sessions, saying it indicates he has something to hide.
He was referring to Villar's conduct in the last two weeks, where he would declare the session open then leave the session to Senate President Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada.
Lacson noted Villar had been skipping the sessions since he delivered a privilege speech on the P200-million road-to-nowhere double-entry mess for the C-5 road in Paranaque.
"If he would not want to face the truth, then it means he fears the truth. And that he is hiding something because if he has nothing to hide, then he would have faced the issue since day one and say Mr. Lacson, there is no truth to your allegation," he said.
But he stressed this was not the reason for his pursuing of the P200-million "road-to-nowhere" mess, adding that he should not be faulted for coming out with the expose since "as lawmakers it is our duty to scrutinize the national budget."
"If he is removed as Senate President as a consequence of all this brouhaha or anomaly, so be it. But that's not in my mind when I brought it out. I brought it out because I wanted to point out anomalies in the budget. I had no idea the anomaly would point to Villar at the time I was asking Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. the question," he said.
"This is graft and corruption plain and simple in the national budget and I cannot allow Filipino taxpayers to be at the mercy of a flawed budget," added Lacson.
On the other hand, Lacson said if Villar were to apologize for the "honest mistake," he would have to do it not only before his peers but also before taxpayers.
"Maybe his peers at the Senate can accept an apology but what about the taxpayers. Would it be enough for them?" he said.
Lacson also vowed to stick it out with his expose despite coming from severe criticism from Villar's supporters like Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Joker Arroyo, saying that he is used to such things.
Earlier, Arroyo in a privilege speech hit at Lacson accusing him of obscuring the issue on the P200-million double entry by reviving his tiff with the Senate President when they were still congressmen.
Arroyo said Lacson should stick to the core issue on the double entry in this year's budget for the C-5 road extension in Parañaque and must prove it was tainted with corruption. (AH/Sunnex)
