Lacson, Panelo clash amid impeach debate

It was Senator Panfilo Lacson’s turn to have a meltdown after he lost his cool at former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo, calling him ungas (dumb) for claiming that Lacson and three other senators would likely vote to convict Vice President Sara Duterte if her impeachment case reached the Senate for trial.

Lacson, who will sit as a senator-judge in an impeachment trial, rebuked Panelo for his remarks, saying they were “complete nonsense” that would “gain nothing.”

In response, Panelo said he based his statement solely on Lacson’s “anti-Duterte” demeanor, which he noted was very evident to the public.

“A public official cannot be onion-skinned. If he does not agree with my opinion, he can say so, but lacing his response with insults and a personal attack is a mark of idiocy, not dumbness,” Panelo told DAILY TRIBUNE.

“He does not like my being critical of his hypocritical positions as a senator, which I have expressed in my commentaries. If he cannot stand the heat in the kitchen, he should leave it,” he added.

Aside from Lacson, Panelo also tagged Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senators Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan as likely to vote to convict Duterte should the charges against the Vice President be brought by the House of Representatives to the Senate.

Panelo not our spokesman

“Why is Panelo trying to sound smarter than us? No one can speak on my behalf. And I have said this before, we’ll always be guided by the evidence,” Lacson said in a digital show on Friday.

The senator took strong offense at Panelo calling them pusakal (uncouth) and insinuating that as “critics” of the VP they would likely hand down a guilty verdict, which could result in her perpetual disqualification from public office and derail her bid for the presidency.

He said it was not for Panelo to make such assumptions. “He isn’t just a feral dog, he’s dumb,” Lacson added.

Duterte had announced in February her plan to seek the highest office at the time a new set of impeachment complaints were being prepared in the House.

She is facing allegations of betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, bribery, primarily related to the alleged questionable use of P650 million in confidential funds under the OVP and the Department of Education during her stint as the agency’s secretary from mid-2022 to June 2024.

Lacon asserted that the chances of them making unfair decisions or being biased toward the VP were slim, given that the trial would be under intense public scrutiny, televised and livestreamed.

He assured that any conclusion would be based solely on the evidence.

“We are capable of discernment, so he should not prejudge us. It is complete nonsense to say four senators are sure to convict the Vice President,” he said.

Panelo, although not part of the defense, asserted that the VP has been ready all along to face the looming Senate trial.

He derided the ongoing proceedings in the House, saying that lawmakers who criticize the VP are exploiting it to tarnish her image ahead of the 2028 national polls.