Presidential aspirant Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on Wednesday, Oct. 13, said that he will continue to defend human rights should he win as the Philippines' next president in the 2022 elections.
The Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer, in a statement, said he wants to "set the record straight on the misconception that he was not a champion of human rights."
He recalled defending the budget of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) since 2016 as chairperson of the Senate Finance subcommittee C, before stepping down last August.
“I have consistently augmented their (CHR) budget para makapagtrabaho sila nang mas maayos (so they can function properly),” Lacson said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, when asked if the protection of human rights has a place in his platform of governance.
Lacson said that in 2017, he secured a P693-million funding for the CHR from an initial pitch of P573-million, after members of the House of Representatives threatened to cut its budget to just P1,000 when the agency clashed with the war on drugs policy of the administration.
He added that he worked closely with the late CHR commissioner Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon to "ensure that the programs of the independent constitutional body to promote and protect the human rights and civil liberties of all Filipinos would still continue even under a hostile regime."
Lacson and his running mate for vice president, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, were criticized for pushing the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479), which has been a subject of 37 petitions in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking to nullify it.
Various groups have questioned the constitutionality of the law, particularly its "broad" definition of terrorism, which they said could be abused and result in violation of human rights.
But Lacson and Sotto were confident that the SC will uphold the constitutionality of the law.
In his statement, Lacson said he "never tolerated a culture of corruption and abuse of authority," he said, also noting his time as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) when he enforced disciplinary actions against "dirty" cops.
"Respect for the rights and dignity of everyone is one of the advocacies espoused by Partido Reporma," Lacson said.
He and Sotto vowed to restore public trust in government institutions.