Lacson vows to take overseas travel secrets to his grave

Despite the insistence of the Department of Justice that he publicly explain his whereabouts during his year in hiding, ex-fugitive Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday vowed to take to his grave crucial information, including the identities of people who hosted him overseas and assisted in his secret travels. Lacson rejected the challenge to him to disclose his whereabouts while he was abroad, saying such an act was like taking the fruit of a poisoned tree. “Ipagpatawad mo di ako makakumento tungkol kung saan ako nanggaling dahil naipangako ko sa sarili ko at sa mga tumulong sa ating kababayan na dadalhin ko na sa aking hukay ang sikretong ginawa nilang pagtulong sa akin," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio. (Forgive me if I will not comment on my whereabouts in the past year. I promised myself and my hosts that I will take that secret to my grave.) On Monday, Lacson faced the media for the first time after ending more than a year on the lam. He said he had been hiding abroad all that time. In an interview Tuesday morning on GMA News' Unang Balita, Lacson shared some of his experiences while he was in hiding.
He returned to the country via Cebu last Saturday after the Court of Appeals junked an arrest warrant a lower court had issued against him for the Dacer-Corbito double-murder case. DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima said Lacson must explain his whereabouts during his 14 months in hiding, adding she wants the people who "coddled" him charged in court. She believes Lacson, as a senator, must explain to the public his absence from his official duties. But Lacson said getting such information from him would be like taking the “fruit of the poisoned tree" especially since the Court of Appeals had junked the double murder case against him. “Meron tayong tinatawag na fruit of the poisoned tree. Dahil lumabas ang decision at nawalang bisa ang arrest warrant at sabi ng Court of Appeals, walang basehan ang probable cause findings ng lower court, di na siguro mahalaga na (alamin) pa ang mga taong nag-aruga sa akin. Para ano para habulin sila? At wala naman sapat na basehan ngayon na ito ay ituloy ang pagimbestiga sa kanila," he said. (We have such a thing as the fruit of the poisoned tree. Since the Court of Appeals junked my arrest warrant, it is no longer important to go after those who ‘coddled’ me. Why still go after them? There is no basis to go after them and investigate them.) He said the DOJ should instead ask the law enforcement agencies tasked to look for him why they failed to find him. “Ang masasabi ko lang diyan, di ba dapat tanungin ng DOJ ang law enforcement agencies na naatasan maghanap? Sila mag-render ng report kung saan nanggaling at di mismong taong hinahanap nila at kunan ng information kung saan nanggaling. Ewan ko, parang di ata tama yan," he added. (Shouldn't the DOJ instead ask the law enforcement agencies ordered to find me? They should be the ones who should report, and not the person they were looking for. That's not right.") — LBG/HS, GMA News