Drilon wants to mediate between Ping, Barbers

To save the Senate from being dragged into a word war between Senators Robert Barbers and Panfilo Lacson, Senate President Franklin Drilon said yesterday he is willing to broker peace between them.

Drilon, who arrived from Australia over the weekend, said he hopes that Barbers and Lacson would "put aside" personal insults because it would be detrimental to them as senators and to the integrity of the Senate as an institution.

"I am open to that, of course. I am always willing to mediate and I hope that these two gentlemen can put aside personal insults. Debate is normal, but it should not mean engaging in personal insults. If it is a debate, it would be all right. That would not be a problem," he said.

Barbers earned Lacson’s ire when he told reporters that three Senate committees recommended that the Department of Justice investigate Lacson again and file appropriate charges if evidence bears out his involvement in illegal drugs and kidnap-for-ransom activities.

The three Senate committees are those on public order and illegal drugs, Blue Ribbon and national defense chaired by Barbers and Senators Joker Arroyo and Ramon Magsaysay, respectively.

Lacson lashed back, accusing Barbers of bungling a drug case filed against suspected Chinese drug trafficker Lawrence Wang. This sparked a "full-blown" word war between the two senators.

Meanwhile, Drilon welcomed President Arroyo’s decision not to formally appoint Barbers as anti-drug czar.

"From the very start, I have said that there would be problems if Barbers would perform executive functions. But in fairness to Barbers, he himself told me that he will resign if he will head a superbody. (He) knew that under our Constitution, a senator cannot head a task force while still serving as a senator," he said.

Drilon said it is just right that Barbers remains in the Senate as chairman of the Senate oversight committee on illegal drugs, which monitors the implementation of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 (Republic Act 9165).