(Eagle News) –Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday, April 16, stood by his decision not to sign the blue ribbon committee draft report that recommended the filing of charges against Former President Benigno Aquino III and others over the Dengvaxia mess.
This was after Senator Richard Gordon, the panel chair, cited Lacson’s alleged ties with Aquino when asked to comment on Lacson’s opposition to the draft that also recommended the filing of charges against former Health Secretary Janette Garin, former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, and Philippine Children Medical Center and Sanofi officials.
According to Gordon, it was Aquino who helped Lacson go into hiding during the Arroyo administration.
“While I did not attend a single hearing on Dengvaxia for the obvious reason shared by most of my colleagues, I was closely monitoring the proceedings,” Lacson, a member of the panel, said.
He said Gordon “was unilaterally directing the investigation to suit the outcome that he had desired from the very start.”
Apart from Lacson, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV opposed the draft, branding the release as a mere publicity stunt against Aquino.
“It is political harassment. These things are happening within context of Chief Justice (Maria Lourdes) Sereno under fire and Senator (Leila) De Lima in jail right now and myself a subject of political harassment,” he said in a television interview.
