By Fel V. Maragay

An Army general who is being eyed to become the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces hurdled the confirmation wringer yesterday after being intensely grilled by an opposition senator.

The committee on national defense of the Commission on Appointments endorsed the promotion of Maj. Gen. Delfin Bangit, now chief of the Southern Luzon Command, to the rank of lieutenant general, after Senator Panfilo Lacson waived his objection to it.

Lacson suspected that Bangit, as former chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was among the military officers involved in a psy-war campaign against him allegedly instigated by the Arroyo administration in the past years.

Last week, the CA bypassed the promotion of Bangit upon motion of Lacson. Only Bangit was left out when the commission confirmed the appointments of 34 senior military officers.

Bangit admitted that he earned the trust of President Arroyo by serving as her chief security officer during her stint as vice president and as chief of the Presidential Security Group during her presidency.

When asked by Lacson whether the President has given any hint that she may choose him to become the next Armed Forces chief, Bangit replied in the negative. Gen. Alexander Yano, current Armed Forces chief, is due to retire this year.

Bangit said she knew Blanquita Pelaez who filed a complaint against Lacson before a United States court for refusing to honor a P20-million contract for the purchase of police handcuffs with her company during his term as director general of the National Police. Lacson said he did not approve the payment for the handcuffs because they were ?defective.?

Bangit said he came to know Pelaez through a common friend, Police Senior Supt. Romeo Maninding, his classmate at the Philippine Military Academy.

Lacson said Pelaez issued an affidavit early this year confirming her participation in the alleged smear campaign against him and implicating Bangit as a purported participant.

?I am not aware of the affidavit,? Bangit told the committee.

Lacson threatened to continue blocking the general?s confirmation ?until you tell the truth.?

When Bangit requested an executive session, Lacson did not object.

During the closed-door session, Bangit said he read the allegations against him only in the newspapers, insisting he had nothing to do with the alleged demolition job against Lacson. In turn, Lacson accepted the explanation.

The general also confirmed that he received a P5-million bonus from the Armed Forces reward committee for his role in the capture of Senator Gregorio Honasan weeks before the May 2007 elections. Honasan was then being hunted by the authorities for allegedly masterminding the July 2007 Oakwood mutiny.

Bangit denied that he received another P5-million incentive from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Lacson asked Bangit on the ?lavish? Christmas party he sponsored for ISAFP personnel in December 2007. ?You were reported in the media as having tossed P500 bills in the air to ISAFP personnel at that time. Did it happen??

?I distributed P500 bills, about Pl5,000 in all,? Bangit replied.