Wind Talker

When last we saw Senator Lacson in the fron pages, he was making tsismis with his friends regarding the possible relationship between Judge Macarambon, the newly appointed Comelec Commissioner and former Comelec Commissioner Garcillano.

At least at that time, he talked with unnamed "reliable sources", in his latest front page adventure, he just talks about "information he gathered" that told him the cash gifts from the administration came from the "P1-billion intelligence funds of the Police Security Protection Office (PSPO) and the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (PACER)." Presumably, he gathered the information from people and not the wind, though since he doesn't say, he may have been talking to the wind.

He does not offer any shred of evidence that the money actually comes from the PNP. No disbursement ledger, no receipts, no witnesses, nothing. He does not even try to give any hint where evidence may be gathered. Rather, he wants the Senate to investigate his allegations, to get more his mug on the front page.

Update: 11-13-2007

The Inquirer has an update on this story where they reference a source who does not want to be identified.

"One of the biggest sources of the money distributed in Malacañang was the Bureau of Customs, according to a source, whose rank is equivalent to a general in the military. The source did not want to be named owing to the sensitivity of the issue.

According to the police official, the money was entered as a “special fund” in the PNP budget, purported as an item for the PNP’s counterinsurgency program in support of the military’s own campaign.

The checks for the fund were cleared in the name of the PNP in July, the source said. The money was later transferred to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the source added."

If the Inquirer's story is true, that the money was coursed through the counterinsurgency program of the PNP. Senator Lacson's allegatio that it was through the intelligence fund cannot be true. It may be argued we shouldn't quibble over details, the PNP is still involved. But God and the Devil is in the details. You should not accuse an office, of criminal activity if it was not involved in the activity, even if the true culprit is an office within the same agency. Which is why he needs to get more evidence before spouting off. It can only make him look trigger happy.