Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson vowed Friday to put an end to “thieves” in 2022 once he is voted into office.
In a short New Year’s message on video, Lacson embodied his crime-fighting persona when he declared: “Ang dami pa ring magnanakaw—sa kanto, sa negosyo, sa gobyerno. Sa 2022, kung magtutulong-tulong tayo, ang pagnanakaw, tapos. Ang magnanakaw, ubos.”
[There are still so many thieves —on the street, in business, and in the government. In 2022, if we help each other, we will end thievery. We will wipe out the thieves.]
The longtime public servant wasn’t merely referring to petty criminals who prey on people on street corners, but to unscrupulous businessmen who evade taxes or smuggle goods—and to corrupt government officials who continue to raid the national coffers and make life difficult for Filipinos.
In a tweet on his @iampinglacson account, he explained: “I have practically spent my 50 years in public service chasing thieves both in the streets and in the government. There’s not much difference. They are all thieves, period. If it is my fate to catch more, with much authority and power, I will not stop until they’re finished.”
In the Senate, he and his running mate, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, recently pointed the spotlight on agricultural
smuggling, which not only denies the government billions in tax income but also depresses local prices of fruits and vegetables (thus cutting into local vendors’ profits) and deprives local farmers full earnings for all their hard work.
This is apart from his past advocacies on the pork barrel, his exposure of the “tara” (payoff) system at the Bureau of Customs, and his detailing of the conflict of interest between the Department of Health and the state run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), which he said was spending beyond its means while its higher-ups “seem to turn a blind eye” to the corruption in their system.
As Partido Reporma chief, he has made it a point to listen to the people’s problems and find solutions to them through the party’s “Online Kumustahan” series of dialogues with local government officials and organizations across the country.
Lacson further said he will be the kind of leader who would not live in the past, but would be wise enough to learn from it to guide his present and future actions.
Lacson said he would bring back the “sense of accountability” that the government seemed to have lost over the years, which led to inefficiency in the delivery of public services and even corruption.
The presidential aspirant wanted to veer away from traditional successors who spent their first few months in office digging dirt against past administrations instead of solving the nation’s problems that they chose to inherit. “My analogy is try to walk with your head or your eyes constantly looking back or what’s behind you. You will stumble and will not reach your destination,” said Lacson.
“Whenever a new administration is installed… You observed a raft of ducks, right? Whoever is leading the flock, everyone seems to follow wherever he goes. What is most important is adherence to the rule of law,” he added.
Through his anti-corruption campaign agenda and plans to establish good governance, anchored on his Budget Reform Advocacy for Village Empowerment (BRAVE) program, Lacson said he hopes to restore public trust in government and the dignity of Filipinos in their own country and overseas.
