Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said on Monday that the recent release of videos by resigned Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co — alongside text messages he received urging him to support a civilian-military junta — appeared to form a sequence of events designed to undermine the administration.
In an Inquirer.net report, Lacson recounted that the messages began arriving while the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) rally for transparency was underway in Manila on Nov. 16 and 17. The timing, he said, coincided with Co’s three-part video series accusing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of ordering the insertion of P100 billion in projects in the proposed 2025 national budget. “That’s why I said that if I were the one to analyze all these, it seems calibrated. Those events seem to have happened one after another. It looks coordinated, orchestrated, and carefully planned,” he said.
Lacson added that the individuals reaching out to him were retired military and police personnel who sought his participation in a junta — a proposal he rejected and described as unconstitutional. According to him, various partisan groups were pushing a “total reset” that would remove both the President and Vice President outside the established line of succession. “It’s unconstitutional,” he said.
The INC rally itself became a flashpoint. During the two-day gathering, Sen. Imee Marcos alleged that President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos were using drugs — a claim the first family denied. A pro-Duterte group calling for President Marcos’ resignation also attempted to join the protest but was driven away by organizers.
As political tensions rose, Senate President Vicente Sotto III cautioned the public against the dangers of abandoning constitutional processes. “The rule of law and due process are the best policies for the long game to real progress,” he said, warning that the country could slide into a “banana republic” if mob rule or military adventurism took hold.
