LACSON VOWS TO FILE MORE PLUNDER CASES VS ARROYO
KAWIT, CAVITE, APRIL 29, 2011 (STANDARD) by Joyce Pangco Pañares - Senator Panfilo Lacson said here Wednesday he was preparing to file more plunder cases against former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, claiming the time had come for her to pay for the sins of the last nine years.
"There is need for retribution. Someone must pay for the mistakes of the past," Lacson said at the inauguration of the R-1 expressway extension of the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway.
He said he would review the documents against Arroyo that had been unearthed with the help of former government officials.
"These cases now have a chance to prosper. It is about time she explains to the people what really happened during the past nine years," he said.
Arroyo is facing plunder charges stemming from the complaint filed by former Solicitor General Frank Chavez for allegedly misusing more than P550 million from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration from March 2003 to February 2004.
Chavez claims the money was used to boost Arroyo's 2004 presidential bid and to finance "questionable acquisitions" by several diplomatic posts in the Middle East and the humanitarian assistance in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department said Wednesday it will take full jurisdiction over the plunder charges filed against Arroyo and three of her Cabinet officials.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the case would go through the usual process, including the creation of a panel of prosecutors that will conduct a preliminary investigation.
"Until now, we can still feel the effects of the anomalies of the past. Maybe now we have a chance to recover the money stolen from government coffers," Lacson said.
He said he hoped that the plunder case against Arroyo would "reach its logical conclusion."
President Benigno Aquino III expressed happiness to see Lacson, his friend and ally, again.
Lacson said the efforts to make the past administration accountable would be in keeping with Aquino's anti-corruption campaign.
The expressway inauguration is the third time the President and Lacson have met since the senator ended 13 months of hiding on March 26, and the first time that the two have attended a public event together.
Lacson admitted that during their first meeting at the Palace days after he surfaced, Mr. Aquino never bothered to ask him about where he had hidden and how he had been able to evade arrest and travel with a canceled passport since January last year.
"He did not ask. Maybe he did not want to talk about it as well," he said.
"If he [had] asked, I would have given him the lowdown; that much I can say in confidence to a head of state."
Earlier, the President played down the efforts De Lima's to establish how Lacson was able to defy the law and cast "a cloud of doubt" over the integrity and efficiency of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Bureau of Immigration, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the National Police.
Mr. Aquino said finding out how Lacson evaded arrest was not a priority.
"She can investigate, [but] my first priority are violent crimes," he said.
Lacson returned to the country after the Court of Appeals had cleared him of the November 2000 murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito in 2000.
The Palace on Wednesday said it was hoping the extradition of former police officer Michael Ray Aquino would bring closure to the case. With Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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