Lacson-Aglipay hostility denied

"There’s no bitterness between me and former Philippine National Police chief director General Panfilo Lacson because of the EDSA People Power II uprising."

This was the reaction yesterday of Metro Manila police Chief Director Edgar Aglipay to reports that Lacson was fuming mad at him for leading his men to defect to the camp of then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the height of People Power II last Friday.

"We are professional soldiers bound to abide by the mandate of the Constitution. And we have done that," said Aglipay of his and Lacson’s 11-hour defection to the camp of Arroyo.

Reports said Lacson had tasked his classmate, Aglipay, to lead the first line of defense against anti-Erap supporters and his defection left Malacañang, where former President Joseph Estrada was holed up, defenseless.

Sources said Lacson had expected Aglipay to follow his orders because the latter allegedly owed his "second star" to the former PNP chief, the report said.

Realizing that only he and a number of his loyal followers were left on the Estrada side, Lacson was forced to breakaway from the former President for a peaceful transition of power.

According to Aglipay, he and Lacson talked to each other before Mrs. Arroyo was sworn in as the 14th President of the Republic last Saturday.

"There was no bitterness in his words. He was happy that the uprising ended without a single casualty," said Aglipay in an interview.

The Metro Manila police chief said Lacson did reveal to him his plan to tender his resignation despite assurance from Mrs. Arroyo she would allow him to continue his term. But Lacson, he said, refused to say anything about his future plans.

"My last instructions from him are to maintain and continue discharging my duties and tasks to prevent the upsurge of criminality, the enforcement of laws and keeping peace and order in Metro Manila," said Aglipay.

Aglipay called the report "part of a scheme by people" who are "out to create factionalism within the PNP."

"I’m appealing to them not to resort to this kind of disinformation because we don’t want a divided PNP," said Aglipay. "We are united and we have already shown that to the people at EDSA."

Despite what happened, Aglipay stressed that Lacson had done good things in the PNP, which he should be proud of. Both Lacson and Aglipay belong to Class ’71 of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) .

During his almost two years as PNP chief, Lacson was credited for downloading police resources to the lowest level, the campaign against inept, corrupt and undisciplined (ICU) personnel and the establishment of a PNP foundation with the aim of modernizing equipment and additional training of policemen.

"He has done a lot in a short period of time. We’re hoping that his dreams for the PNP will be pushed through by his predecessor," said Aglipay.

Mrs. Arroyo has appointed Director Leandro Mendoza as acting PNP chief.