Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said she was duped into believing the false accusations leveled against Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson by whistleblower Antonio Luis Marquez a.k.a Angelo ‘Ador’ Mawanay.
In her recently launched memoir titled “Deus Ex Machina,” Arroyo looked back to that episode of her tumultuous ascent to the presidency seemingly touched with regret over the breakdown of her “political reconciliation” talks with Lacson because she chose to believe the lies fed by Mawanay to her top intelligence officer Brigadier General Victor Corpus.
“That EDSA weekend, I confirmed to media that I might retain Ping Lacson as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, but civil society was appalled at the thought. I offered an ambassadorship to Lacson but he would have none of it. During the 2001 elections, Lacson won the 10th out of 12 Senate seats, and we discussed a political reconciliation,” Arroyo revealed on page 121 of her memoir.
“But our talks collapsed due to the incident involving whistleblower ‘Ador Mawanay’—later revealed as Antonio Luis Marquez—who fed AFP intelligence chief Victor Navarro Corpus information on foreign bank accounts allegedly owned by Ping Lacson. The information that was made public could not be substantiated. I was told that years later, Corpus apologized for the incident,” she added.
Arroyo blamed her failure in judgment, which led to her persecution of Lacson, to toxic politics—something that the Partido Reporma chairman already knew a long time ago, as confirmed to him by a former ally of the ex-president, who told him it was because he was perceived as a political threat.
“During those toxic times of intrigue, allegations in affidavits and counter-allegations in counter-affidavits, dirty tricks, cellphone monitoring, and spying and whatnot, the principal players on both sides of the political war, whether administration or opposition, often had in their possession raw or outright fake information, and as a result truth often fell by the wayside,” Arroyo explained.
“I can only say that there was no deliberate attempt to use Mawanay to spread fake information about Lacson. If Victor Corpus felt compelled to apologize to Lacson, it may diminish Vic’s reputation as an intelligence chief, but it enhances the luster of his reputation for being a man of integrity, an officer and a gentleman. Sadly, the result of the whole affair is that Ping Lacson became an enemy instead of an ally,” the former president added.
Lacson would later expose several corruption scandals that rocked the Arroyo administration, including the P105-million chopper scam involving her husband, former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo; the P728-million fertilizer fund scam; and the graft-ridden $329-million NBN-ZTE deal, among others.
The series of Senate investigations launched and led by Lacson were part of his commitment to the Filipino people, who elected him as senator, to hold powerful people and their cohorts accountable for their crimes, especially corruption.
Arroyo was arrested on charges of plunder and election fraud in November 2011 under the administration of her successor, the late President Benigno S. Aquino III. She remained in hospital detention for four years until the Supreme Court ordered her acquittal in July 2016.