‘Rosebud’ worried about govt’s unity talks with Lacson

Embattled anti-narcotics agent Mary Ong, alias Rosebud, expressed concern yesterday on the reported move of the Arroyo administration to initiate a unity pact with opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson.

Ong said she and other witnesses in the resurrected Kuratong Baleleng murder case will be left in mid-air if the government welcomes Lacson into its unity move.

"My interpretation of unity government is a unity of principles...reconciliation. Forgiveness and repentance are essential," Ong said, following reports that First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was open to have reconciliatory talks with Lacson, which is anchored on Mrs. Arroyo’s unity government.

"President Arroyo and the First Gentleman may forgive Ping and unite with him. In my kidnapping and drug cases, I have long forgiven Ping, but will the people forgive me for the years I’ve been quiet. I have not forgiven myself yet. The only way is to seek justice, and under the law, justice means punishment to the accused."

Ong said she has concurred with other KB witnesses right after the May 10 elections to determine their next move.

Ong blew the whistle against top police officials involved in the alleged drug cartel operations at Camp Crame in 2000.

After a bungled undercover contract under Operation Plan Athena with her former live-in partner Superintendent John Campus, Ong exposed the kidnap-slay operations against big time Chinese drug operators of former Presidential Anti- Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) members during Lacson’s term.

"How can the system change if culprits are even entertained in Malacañang? You see my sacrifice for four years. It's because I believe in change," Ong said.

Ong was also a key witness in the money laundering activities of Lacson in the United States by Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, former Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. The Senate has not issued any resolution on the cases.

Since then, Ong said her family remained under government custody at the ISAFP while Campos was slain by unidentified men in Las Piñas in December 2002. The Campos murder remain unsolved.

"Politicians will come and go. I will remain alone in this lonely fight," Ong told The STAR in a text message over the weekend.

The First Gentleman and Lacson got into a bitter fight over the senator’s allegations that the President’s husband has maintained a multi-billion Jose Pidal bank account from the 1992 campaign contributions.