SENATE SHUTS DOWN PING LACSON'S OFFICE / FRAT WAR CAUSE OF DLS BLAST
[PHOTO AT LEFT - WHERE IN THE WORLD IS PING LACSON?]
MANILA, OCTOBER 10, 2010 (STAR) By Marvin Sy – Increasing pressure from the Commission on Audit (COA) has prompted the Senate to stop all payments to the office of Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
The COA has ordered the Senate to account for the expenses incurred by the office of Lacson, particularly the period since early January when the senator went into hiding, according to a high ranking Senate official.
The official revealed the senators reached a consensus to stop all payments to Lacson's office.
The source said the COA was questioning the expenses incurred by the office of Lacson, particularly the disbursements made without the signed authorization of the fugitive lawmaker.
Lacson went into hiding early this year after he was included among the accused in the November 2000 murders of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
The source said the COA was questioning the certifications for the releases of Lacson's office, particularly for personnel services and maintenance and other operating expenditures.
"Nobody has been signing these certifications for some time already. The problem is that the Senate would be faced with a big problem because of this," the source said.
The consensus to stop the release of funds to Lacson's office was reportedly reached at a caucus during last Wednesday's session at the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III declined to provide details but revealed he was asked by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to call for the caucus for a consensus on the issue.
Sotto said Enrile expressed concerned over the issue, fearing it could become a big problem for the Senate.
It was reported that a memorandum issued by the Senate secretary Emma Lirio-Reyes and signed by Enrile was sent to the office of Lacson suspending release of its budget.
Lacson's office reportedly receives P2 million a month as its budget while the senator receives P36,000 a month in salary.
The source revealed the office of Lacson would "temporarily not be functioning" starting tomorrow.
The office staff would technically be out of a job during the duration of the suspension but would be absorbed by the office of the Senate secretariat.
The source said this was part of the consensus reached during the caucus.
"It was quite a problem and we had to resolve it because otherwise we would put the Senate President in a spot," the source said.
The official said Lacson's office would be reactivated once the fugitive senator returns and reports for duty.
The same official pointed out Lacson's case is different from that of detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who has never stepped into the Senate since he was elected in May 2007.
He said Trillanes, though detained, is still allowed to sign all disbursements relating to his office, as against Lacson who is in hiding.
Trillanes is currently detained for his involvement in the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny and the Manila Peninsula siege of 2007.
Lacson, on the other hand, is a fugitive.
FRAT WAR: POSSIBLE CAUSE OF DE LA SALLE BLAST
(STAR) By Edu Punay - Investigators of the Supreme Court (SC) are zeroing in on a fraternity war as the possible cause of the grenade attack that injured 47 people during the last day of the Bar examinations on Sept. 26 outside De la Salle University on Taft Avenue in Manila.
Deputy court administrator Raul Villanueva said the eight-man panel chaired by Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr. saw no strong indication that the incident resulted from other motives.
"Four witnesses so far have testified," he said. "There are some angles that are apparently not strong."
The SC panel was reportedly looking into five angles when it started the probe last Oct. 1. Among these is the possibility that the attack was carried out not by a fraternity, but by certain individuals with a personal motive.
Villanueva said the SC probe panel is leaving it to the National Bureau of Investigation and Philippine National Police to decide whether to pursue these angles.
"The committee is evaluating the testimonies given during the investigation and the statements in its possession as well as awaiting the formal results of the fragments and the progress of its follow-up operations in the next meeting on Monday," he said.
Villanueva said after establishing who should be held criminally or administratively liable for the attack, the panel would then tackle measures to prevent occurrence of similar incidents and to strengthen security protocols in the Bar examinations.
The committee is expected to submit its report to Chief Justice Renato Corona on Oct. 15.
The SC earlier reportedly received initial information showing that most of the victims are students of San Beda College of Law.
It was found that they are members of Alpha Phi Beta fraternity and sorority, which strengthens the possibility that a fraternity war could be behind the attack.
The device thrown by still unidentified suspects exploded in the inner circle formed by Alpha Phi Beta where its female members were standing.
The fraternity men formed the outer circle as if they were protecting their sisters from an "anticipated attack."
It was learned that Alpha Phi Beta has a "long-standing rivalry" with another fraternity, also in San Beda College, Lambda Rho Beta.
However, a fraternity member who witnessed the incident told The STAR that a scuffle between Lambda Rho Beta and Sigma Rho fraternities ensued prior to the incident.
Police reports showed that the one who threw the explosive device was wearing a shirt that bore the Greek letter emblem of Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho), which was allegedly at odds with members of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.
Associate Justice Jose Mendoza serves as vice chair of the committee.
The other members are: Ma. Cristina Layusa, deputy clerk of court and Bar confidant; Dean Perry Pe, chair of the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS); Constantino Joson, regional director of NBI-NCR; Superintendent Francisco Gabriel, head of Manila police special investigation task group; and Charlotte Silungan, Association of Law Students of the Philippines NCR chapter vice president.
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