Former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson yesterday said he fully agreed with the report of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Board of Inquiry that President Aquino was responsible for the covert mission in Mamasapano.
“Let me state a basic principle in leadership – a commander is responsible for everything that his unit does or fails to do,” said Lacson, who addressed delegates of the 15th Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) congress in Cebu City.
Lacson was PNP director general from 1999 to 2001 during the term of President Joseph Estrada.
He disagreed with the view of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that the President and the PNP, which is civilian in character, were not covered by the principle of chain of command.
Lacson cited Article VII, Sec. 18 of the 1987 Constitution that says, “The President shall be the Commander in Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines and whenever it becomes necessary, he may call out such armed forces to prevent violence, invasion, or rebellion.”
“The words ‘armed forces’… are in small letters, hence, it could not have referred to the AFP as an institution, but to all armed forces to include the PNP which is obviously an armed force,” Lacson pointed out.
Lacson did not once mention in his one-hour speech the calls of some sectors for Aquino to step down.
Instead, he appealed to all 2,000 lawyers in the venue to “pray” that the country overcomes the present controversy.
“In the next 467 days before President Aquino leaves his post, we’ll never know if he’ll face even greater trials. For the sake of our nation… let us pray, as good and responsible citizens, that if he ever has lapses in addressing big crises, the same as I’ve mentioned, I hope we all make it through.”
In his speech, Lacson discussed President Aquino’s handling of three national crises — supertyphoon Yolanda, the pork barrel controversy and the Jan. 25 Mamasapano bloodbath where 44 PNP Special Armed Force commandos were killed.
Lacson said he would have handled it differently if he were the president.
“Our government must be able to protect each and every Filipino from anything that threatens their life and property, even their hard-earned money – whether it be from acts of man or acts of nature,” said Lacson.
Be fair
If he were the president of the Philippines, Lacson said he would have made sure that all those involved in the pork barrel scam, whether they are political or personal friends, would go to jail and given equal treatment.
In natural disasters, like Yolanda, Lacson said that he would act with dispatch to create a permanent agency, clothed with implementation authority, and the necessary budget to respond to the four stages of calamities—prevention and mitigation; response and early recovery; relief; and rehabilitation and recovery.
Lacson was assigned by Aquino as the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (PARR) shortly after supertyphoon Yolanda hit the country in November of 2013.
He recently resigned from his post. During his exit call last February 10, Lacson recommended to the President the institutionalization of the lessons learned and best practices encountered with Yolanda.