MANILA — Senator-Judge Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday disputed a claim made by the defense panel in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, emphasizing that he neither filed nor recommended a perjury case against retired police officer Arturo Lascañas.
The issue arose during the ninth day of trial when defense counsel Mark Vinluan referred to Lacson’s earlier statements while questioning National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag, suggesting that Lascañas had once been recommended for prosecution after giving inconsistent testimonies before the Senate.
Interrupting the proceedings, Lacson clarified that while Lascañas admittedly reversed his testimony on the alleged Davao Death Squad, no recommendation for a perjury complaint was made.
According to Lacson, the Senate committee report he authored instead proposed revising the Revised Penal Code to impose tougher penalties for perjury, stressing that the recommendation was legislative in nature and not directed against Lascañas.
The senator headed the Senate Committee on Public Order during the investigations into alleged extrajudicial killings conducted in 2016 and 2017.
Lascañas initially denied the existence of the alleged DDS during a Senate hearing in October 2016. Several months later, he returned to the Senate and claimed he had taken part in killings allegedly carried out under the orders of then-Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte. Lawmakers eventually closed the inquiry after concluding that his testimony lacked independent corroboration.
Vinluan later questioned Matibag on how the NBI evaluated Lascañas’ affidavit, suggesting investigators relied mainly on online information.
Matibag denied the allegation, explaining that the bureau obtained the affidavit itself and examined various publicly available materials, including news reports, as part of its investigation.
Senator-Judge Risa Hontiveros also asked whether the NBI considered Vice President Duterte’s public statements in assessing the alleged threats attributed to her.
Matibag replied that investigators reviewed reports quoting the Vice President on the alleged DDS and weighed those statements alongside Lascañas’ affidavit and other open-source intelligence before reaching their assessment.
elamigo/xf
