PRESIDENTIAL candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday bared a “demolition” job against him which he said will be carried out by a group supporting another presidential candidate who is getting hurt by his “magnanakaw (thief)” narrative in campaign rallies and other events.
He said he is making the demolition plan public to pre-empt it. He said he got the information from sources linked to the camp of the candidate.
“Mahirap na maunahan na naman tayo tulad nung 2002 na may millions of dollars daw ako stashed sa iba’t ibang banko. Hindi ko iyon pinansin… Lesson learned: I-confront mo agad kung black propaganda laban sa iyo (I don’t want the same thing to happen in 2002 when my detractors said I had millions of dollars stashed in various banks. I ignored them … Lesson learned: Immediately confront black propaganda against you),” Lacson said at a press conference.
At the start of political career in the early 2000s, Lacson was one of the black propaganda targets of the Arroyo administration. One of the accusations against Lacson was that he was drug lord based, on the testimony of Antonio Luis Marquez aka Ador Mawanay, and Mary Ong aka Rosebud who had the support of then chief of the military’s Intelligence Service, Victor Corpus. Lacson was also linked to the murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito by then Senior Supt. Cesar Mancao, one of his trusted men in the defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission who turned his back on Lacson but later admitted he was just forced by the Arroyo administration to testify against Lacson.
Lacson said the candidate was apparently hurt by his strong anti-corruption stance and his constant reminder to the Filipino people not to vote for thieves in the coming elections.
This week, Lacson’s camp asked Filipinos if they are “ready to be ruled by another thief.” He said he was not referring to anyone and it was “general statement.”
He said the black propaganda has apparently begun as he read on Twitter that there are two anti-corruption presidential candidates who will back out of the race. He said the group might be referring to him and Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao, since they are both known as anti-corruption advocates, but reiterated he will not back down from the presidential race even if he is behind other candidates in pre-election surveys.
“Once we have validated the information and have solid proof, we will confront them. There is no other way (but confront them),” he added.
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said he is not withdrawing as his survey ratings continue to go up.
Lacson asked called on the National Telecommunications Commission and law enforcement agencies to be proactive in the campaign against the spread of disinformation.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Lacson’s running mate, said he met with Facebook officials last week to ask them to control the posting of fake news on its site. “They are trying their best to address the problem of fake news. We are still waiting for the results,” he said.
