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Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Glo aide on Lacson postponing expose: Thank God
MANILA -- Malacañang heaved a sigh of relief after opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson decided to postpone the delivery of the third part of his "Incredible Hulk" exposé against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.
Deputy presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo said the move would ease the strain on the economic and political situation in the country.
He admitted that Malacañang was concerned and was actually hoping that the third part of the exposé would not be made while President Arroyo is abroad attending an international conference because of its possible effect on government and the country's international image.
"The Philippines would be the focus of an international event. There is heightened attention on the Philippines. Any kind of negative event, especially events that have a tendency to erode trust in public institutions and tend to erode investor confidence, the feeling of security of our people, these things obviously will not do the country good," Saludo said.
Saludo also rejected suggestions that Malacañang thank Lacson for not pushing through with the third part of his exposé.
He said Lacson should instead file appropriate charges in court if indeed he felt some laws were violated and that his charges would stand in court.
"Presumably he has a certain violation of the law in mind that he would like to combat, he did say he was doing these things to fight corruption. Now if there is corruption in his mind, and if there is a violation of the law, the only place where corruption and other violations of the law can actually be decided, I think we all agree, is in a court of law," Saludo pointed out.
Saludo said that Lacson, until now, has yet to present concrete evidence that is admissible in court.
President Arroyo had also raised this during the weekend, after announcing that she was running for president in 2004 contrary to her earlier decision not to contest the presidential polls.
He also defended President Arroyo for breaking her silence on the issue involving her husband, adding her decision to speak up should not be taken to mean that she is using the Office of the President to defend her husband.
He reiterated that Malacañang would not interfere with the Senate investigation on Lacson's allegations that Jose Miguel Arroyo laundered millions in campaign contributions and illegal transactions in bank accounts under the name Jose Pidal.
"The President has not made any statement of attempting to exonerate or claim any innocence for any party involved. Rather, it is an expression of concern with regard to two things: one is whether the inquiry or the exposé is being conducted in a manner that would be acceptable in democratic society and due process; and secondly, it is the issue of how these undertakings may be damaging our nation, our economy and our democratic system," Saludo said.
Lacson accused the First Gentleman of allegedly engaging in money-laundering by using the name Jose Pidal and other dummy accounts in the name of his secretary Vicky Toh, her brother Thomas Toh and businessman Kelvin Tan.
Jose Miguel's younger brother Ignacio Jr. later claimed the Jose Pidal account belonged to him but some of the senators involved in the Senate inquiry on the account suspected he was merely a fall guy. ST
(October 7, 2003 issue)
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