Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in a personal memoir recounting her presidency released Wednesday, cleared Senator Ping Lacson of involvement in criminal activities during her term, an allegation sprang by her administration that hounded the former Philippine National Police chief.
Macapagal Arroyo recounted in her published memoir entitled ‘Deus Ex Machina’ that she regretted having believed in the false information provided by a former government agent and whistleblower, Antonio Luis Marquez, also known as Ador Manaway, against Lacson.
“I can only say that there was no deliberate attempt to use Mawanay to spread fake information about Lacson,” Macapagal-Arroyo wrote. She pointed out that her former intelligence chief Victor Corpus had also already apologized to Lacson for the mistake.
“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,” she said.
Senator Lacson, who is running for the presidency this time, tweeted a reply to the former president’s statement.
“Late is always better than never. To ex-PGMA’s credit, she has the decency and courage to admit that she publicly and unjustly accused me of various crimes based on false information. Whatever, I have already forgiven her a long time ago,” Lacson said.
Macapagal Arroyo said she wrote her memoirs in order to “correct the many misconceptions that keep getting repeated.”
At the height of the controversy, Manaway had accused Lacson of a string of criminal activities including an alleged destabilization plot against the Arroyo administration.
Lacson, during his anti-corruption crusade at the Senate, had exposed several anomalies of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration including a $329-million NBN-ZTE broadband connection deal and a P728-million fertilizer fund scam.
