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eMANILA - Striking back at his father's accuser, Sen. Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada on Tuesday accused Sen. Panfilo Lacson of fabricating lies against former President Joseph Estrada and of being an agent of the Arroyo administration.
Dubbing Lacson's statements as based on "gutter talk, hearsay and fishwives' tales," Estrada said Lacson was using his parliamentary privilege to lie about the former president and absolve himself from the twin murders of publicist Salvador "Bubby Dacer and Emmanuel Corbito.
"The bottomline here is - Mr. Lacson in desperation is using the Senate floor to divert attention to president Estrada and away from himself in connection with the forthcoming non-bailable double murder charge that will be filed against him in the Dacer-Corbito murder case. To top it all, he is using his parliamentary privilege so he can lie through his teeth without being held to account to anyone," he said in a privilege speech at the Senate.
In his speech, Estrada said Lacson should have resigned as chief of the Philippine National Police if it was true that he uncovered massive corruption being perpetrated by then president Estrada.
He said that if the former president indeed profited from the illegal numbers game jueteng, he would not have pushed for the legalization of the game through Bingo 2-Ball.
"If ever President Estrada did not bear down on jueteng at that time, he was deeply concerned with those who depended on it for their livelihood. Anong trabaho ang ibibigay sa kanila? Hahayaan ba natin silang pumunta sa mas masamang mga gawain? President Estrada was concerned that those who depended on jueteng would be deprived of income and it was necessary to find an alternative for them," he said.
He said the former president was never in cahoots with smugglers who brought illegal rice and dressed chicken shipments into the country since he himself formed Task Force Aduana to go after smugglers.
He said Estrada later abolished the task force and placed the responsibility of going after smugglers to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, which was headed by Lacson.
"If President Estrada was indeed involved in smuggling, why did he not relieve PAOCTF and Mr. Lacson of the authority to act against smuggling and assigned this to another unit which will be more cooperative?" he asked.
He also denied Lacson's allegation that the former president used the PNP to harass tycoon Alfonso Yuchengco to sell his shares in Philippine Telecommunications Investment Corporation (PTIC) to Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC).
Instead of answering the claim directly, Estrada questioned Yuchengco's integrity. "How can we trust the word of someone who was one of the first beneficiaries of GMA when the [Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation] floated the infamous PEACe bonds? How can we trust the word of someone like Mr. Yuchengco who has betrayed the trust of thousands of Pacific Plan holders?" he asked.
Sought endorsement 3 times
The younger Estrada revealed that Lacson approached his father three times to endorse his senatorial bids in 2001 and 2007, and his failed presidential bid in 2004.
"If president Estrada is the devious criminal that Mr. Lacson would now portray him to be, why did Mr. Lacson go to great lengths to seek his endorsement, not once, not twice, but three times in the elections of 2001, 2004 and 2007?" he said
Estrada said Lacson's insistence on running in 2004 was the reason why the opposition candidate with the best chance of winning against President Arroyo, Fernando Poe Jr., lost in his bid.
He added: "I send this warning to all presidentiables. Beware of those persons with wicked dispositions. Be wary of those who come to you and promise uncompromising allegiance and unwavering loyalty. They may last only while convenient and compatible with their own selfish interests and self-serving agenda."
Lacson: Who's lying now?
In response to Jinggoy's privilege speech, Lacson denied he was an agent of the Arroyo administration, and denied he lied in his privilege speech.
"I will never be an administration ally. To aver that I am with the administration is just farthest from the truth," he said. "I never lied in my privilege speech."
Lacson also pointed out that three people have confirmed a number of the accusations in his privilege speech on Monday:
businessman Alfonso Yuchengco said he was pressured and harassed to sell his shares in PLDT;
former armed forces chief and now Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes said there were policy differences between Lacson and then President Estrada over the illegal numbers game, jueteng;
former Ilocos Sur Governor Luis Singson said Estrada was involved in protecting the illegal numbers game, jueteng.
Lacson also told Estrada's son that the Dacer family has filed an amended complaint, which also accuses the former President of ordering the hit on the late publicist in November 2000.
"It is not true that I'm the only one being complained of by the Dacer family," he said.
On Jinggoy's denial of Estrada's involvement in rice smuggling, Lacson said he received word from former police agent Glen Dumlao, co-accused in the Dacer-Corbito double murder, that he personally received an order from President Estrada to release a shipment of smuggled rice.
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