Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson has issued a firm rebuttal to Senate Deputy Minority Leader Rodante Marcoleta, rejecting allegations that he edited a video featuring Marcoleta’s statements on the Kalayaan Group of Islands (KIG).
Marcoleta claimed that a video posted on Lacson’s Facebook page on February 5 was “a compilation of spliced videos that portrays this representation as one that advocates the surrender of a portion of the Philippine territory.”
He raised the issue during his February 13 television program, asserting that Lacson had altered the footage to damage his reputation.
Lacson countered in a letter, clarifying that the video was an excerpt from the official live broadcast of the Commission on Appointments hearing.
“These accusations are entirely baseless and constitute malicious imputation of wrongdoing. Hence, your overtures regarding a potential ethics complaint constitute an act of bad faith,” Lacson wrote.
He added that Marcoleta’s claims are “demonstrably false and defamatory” and cannot form a legitimate basis for any ethics complaint.
Lacson also noted that identical news reports, commentaries, and public reactions corroborated the video’s accuracy, suggesting Marcoleta’s allegations reflect a targeted campaign against him.
“Hence, any perceived injury to reputation or public ‘backlash’ is primarily attributable to the original, publicly broadcast statements of the speaker, rather than the content posted on the ‘Ping Lacson’ Facebook Page,” he said.
Concluding his letter, Lacson stressed that public officials are accountable for statements made in official capacities and that responsibility cannot be shifted to a platform that merely shares publicly available government proceedings.