Manila Headlines

MANILA, Philippines – Master the art of disguise and deception. Pray hard. Persevere.

Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, the soldier turned politician who had been a fugitive from the law on several occasions in the past, offered this advice to Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday, urging his embattled colleague to use his training as a former military officer and police official.

Honasan advised Lacson to “pray hard” and master the art of disguise if he does not want the long arm of the law to catch up with him.

“Persevere. Pray hard,” Honasan remarked when asked what tips he could give Lacson, his former classmate at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and colleague at the Senate who is now in hiding abroad.

“First, I empathize with him. I have been there before,” said Honasan who, as a young Army colonel, had been implicated in several coup attempts against three presidents since 1986.

Honasan first gained fame when he played a role in the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1986 people power revolution.

The following year, Honasan led a failed coup against the late President Corazon Aquino, hiding out in the metropolis for several months before he was caught.

He then escaped from a prison ship, was arrested again in 1988 and led another coup attempt in 1989.

He was pardoned by former President Fidel Ramos and elected senator in 1995.

After having been re-elected senator in 2003, Honasan was again implicated in the failed power grab against President Arroyo during the Oakwood mutiny led by now detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

The government had a difficult time locating Honasan in the past because of the senator’s expertise in disguise and deception.

Honasan was later caught disguised as a Hindu businessman, wearing a turban and the traditional Indian costume. The senator was nabbed when he injured his foot trying to jump from the roof of a two-story house.

Honasan, in an interview with reporters in Tarlac City during the 9th National Convention of the Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc. (PGBI), said Lacson should now maximize what he had learned as a former intelligence officer.

In hiding, Honasan said Lacson should “maximize costumes” and practice “goodwill” with people he meets as he tries to elude authorities.

Honasan joked that Lacson should put on a red wig, which he used when he went into hiding in 2003.

“Ako ang sinusuot ko noon ay pula (I wore red wigs then),” Honasan said in jest.

Honasan gave the unsolicited advice to Lacson, his “mistah” at the PMA.

A warrant of arrest was issued against Lacson last Friday, accusing the senator in the murders of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and driver Emmanuel Corbito in November 2000.

Lacson served as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and concurrent chief of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, the same unit accused of carrying out the murders of Dacer and Corbito.