Senate President Pro Tempore Ping Lacson nilinaw ang viral na larawan kasama ang mag-asawang Discaya na ibinahagi ni Cong. Kiko Barzaga.
“The photo was taken sometime in the last week of April when the 90-day campaign period for the 2025 midterm elections was about to end.
A campaign supporter from Davao City, Mr Fred Villaroman, whose dad, the late PBGen Francisco Villaroman served under me in the PNP and used to head the security detail of then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte until his death right after FPRRD won the 2016 presidential election brought the Discaya son to my office in Taguig City to invite me to attend what they described as a grand rally in one of the Davao provinces.
The young Discaya was a nominee of a Party List group – Ako Pinoy or Ako’y Pinoy – vying for a seat in Congress. They were later joined by Mr & Mrs Discaya. Anyway, I begged off – first, out of respect for my friend SP Tito Sotto whose nephew, Mayor Vico Sotto was running against Mrs Discaya for the mayorship of Pasig City, and second, there were other party-list groups who were including my name in their sample ballots and I thought it was not a smart political decision to join a rally of any party-list group.
I did not know the Discayas and that was the first and only time outside of the Blue Ribbon committee hearings that I met them. That meeting took around 15-20 minutes but not before that group photo was taken.
I hope this clarifies whatever insinuations are being attached to this said photograph,” paliwanag ni Lacson
