DRUG MONEY TRAIL ON LACSON’S ESCAPE

Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s Political Consultant - Lito Banayo is said to be managing the solon’s affair in cleaning his name on the Dacer-Corbito case. And Banayo does this with huge help coming from renowned drug lords’ deep pockets. Sources reveal that around 2 billion pesos worth of drug money has already been fueling Banayo’s campaign for Lacson’s sake. About 500 million of this money was used to court various RTC judges to actually quash the case. Another 16 million was initially used in an attempt to stall the issuance of a warrant of arrest. Though the plan to sabotage Lacson’s WOA ran futile, the millions paved the way for him to leave the country a month before the warrant was served last February 05. Obviously, Lacson was tipped-off about his looming arrest and he apparently bagged the opportunity to plot his escape.

Although at a “runaway state”, Lacson is still able to micro-manage his defense in the Dacer-Corbito case with the assistance of Banayo and of course Chinese tycoons running a drug trade under the senator’s protection. To name a few of these “financiers” is Kim Wong who owns a chain of restaurants and casinos in the country. In 2008, headlines included Lacson’s ill-gotten wealth amounting to $180 million under a hoax account in Hong Kong. The said money was part of Lacson’s pay-up after working with Wong’s drug dens. The charges, however, did not materialize as more controversial issues in mid of 2009 bumped it off the political arena. Coincidentally, Wong just happens to be an “indispensible” persona behind military and PNP officials, including Ret. PNP Chief Avelino Razon who is seeking a mayorial post this coming election.

The costly escapades of Lacson and his supposed well-financed “trick or two” to actually evade arrest by the Interpol shows how well-financed the senator is outside the country. Thus, it is likely true that the former claims of Dacer-Corbito state witnesses- Glenn Dumlao and Cesar Mancao of Lacson “manhandling” their testimonies on the murder case are accurate. The late night visits of Lacson to Dumlao and Mancao in the US with his promise of financing their families in the Philippines are nonetheless being funded by the likes of Wong.

Other than stage-managing his case, Lacson is also making use of the nearing elections in his defense. As sources further revealed, Wong is also doling out part of the said 2 billion drug fund on Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s presidential race. The idea is to actually lure Aquino to incur a huge political debt to Wong. By the time Aquino bags the presidency, Wong and other legitimate tycoons who invested on LP are entitled to ask for favors. Among these anonymous benefactors is of course Lacson. We could only guess that he would be pressuring Aquino to grant him his murder case during his administration. At a heartbeat, Lacson and Wong would ask no more than assistance to scrap the Dacer-Corbito case. This way, Lacson could reclaim his political stature and protect the drug market which Wong domineers.

The “mismanagement” inside LP and the rumored “pushover” leadership of Aquino, would undoubtedly make him an easy prey for Lacson and Wong.