Lacson Defends Duterte

Mindanao Daily Mirror
June 19, 2009 issue
http://www.dailymirror.ph/June/headlines06192009&02.htm

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte found an ally on his manner of keeping peace and order in Davao City, in the person of Senator Panfilo Lacson.

In an interview with reporters yesterday at the Waterfront Insular Hotel, Lacson said, “the mayor was just misunderstood.”

“He was able to make Davao safe and progressive,” he said.

Lacson arrived in the city Wednesday night to speak before the regional conference of provincial and municipal city treasurers and assessors in Region 11.

The senator said he doesn’t believe that the so called DDS ( Davao Death Squad) existed.

He also commented on how the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) en banc led by its chair Atty. Leila Delima handled the investigation on the summary killings in Davao City.

He said the CHR used a western concept in handling the issue but didn’t look at the rights of innocent civilians.

“The bottom line is, the people in the city are safe particularly the sons and daughters of parents,” he said.

Duterte and Lacson share a common stand of fighting crime.

However, both are currently in the hot seat: Duterte on the controversial DDS issue and Lacson on the Dacer-Corbito murder case. - Maya M. Padillo