Press Release
August 27, 2009

LACSON EYES DISBARMENT VS MANCAO LAWYER OVER 'SCRIPT'

Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson is mulling lodging a disbarment complaint and a civil suit against the lawyer of former Senior Superintendent Cezar Mancao II for foisting a "script" on his client to implicate personalities in the Dacer-Corbito case.

Lacson said lawyer Ferdinand Topacio showed malice when he put a spin on Mancao's testimony on the case before the Manila Regional Trial Court Wednesday.

"Once I get hold of the transcript from the Manila RTC, I am contemplating on filing criminal and administrative charges against Topacio. As a lawyer, he should respect the code of ethics of his profession. Needless to say, and for the nth time, I have nothing to do with the Dacer-Corbito case," Lacson said.

According to a newspaper report, Topacio said Wednesday that Mancao confirmed before the court the contents of his affidavit on the existence of "Operation Delta" and his role in the case. He said Mancao also told the court that Lacson, then chief of the Philippine National Police, received direct orders from Malacañang to "neutralize" Dacer.

But Lacson said Topacio's claims smacked of a "script" that he wanted Mancao to follow during the court proceedings. He said Topacio should at least refrain from putting words in Mancao's mouth when speaking to media.

"Let the court transcript of the proceeding speak for itself. Atty. Topacio, with apparent malice and intent to deceive the public mentioned in the media interview yesterday some statements that he attributed to Mancao, which were never testified to in the first place. Yun bang mga salitang binitiwan ni Topacio sa media na taliwas sa totoong nangyari ang 'script' na gusto nilang sundin ni Mancao (Was what Topacio told media part of a deceptive 'script' they tried to follow)?" Lacson said.

Lacson also questioned Topacio's double standard for insisting on implicating him in the Dacer-Corbito case based on the "uncorroborated" testimony of Mancao. Yet, he said that in the killing of Ruby Rose Barrameda, Topacio defended his clients, the defendants in the case, by questioning the charges that he claimed were based on an uncorroborated statement.

"Is it not bad to contradict yourself when it suits your clients? Topacio should show some decency. But he should explain, why did he tell media something that his client did not say in court?" he said.

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