Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo M. Lacson appealed to the Filipino electorate that they elect only those who could shape a good future for the next generation.
This was Lacson’s plea in a 12-minute speech on Tuesday night, February 8, at the Imus Grandstand where he and his running mate, Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, and their senatorial bets fired the first salvo of their political campaign leading to the May 2022 national and local elections.
They said their combined 83 years in government service was never tainted by corruption.
If elected as the Philippine President, Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, said he would continue with his anti-corruption campaign.
He exhorted the citizenry not to elect who would steal from the government. Since government is the problem, the solution is good government, he said.
He said Sotto’s style of leadership as a consensus builder meant the threat of his being unseated as Senate chief does not exists as he is friend to every member of the Upper House. And this bodes well as a Vice President, he added.
Lacson praised the vision of one of his senatorial bets, former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, in addressing the weak agriculture sector in the country.
Pinol rued the fact that Israel, a small country, is economically strong compared to the Philippines.
Carmona Mayor Roy Loyola described Lacson as the country’s equivalent to the late Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
Sotto lamented that the national budget does not trickle down to the grass roots level.
With his 42 years in matters of legislation, Sotto said he and Lacson would try to bring back the people’s trust in the courts, the police and those who run the government.
The Philippines has good laws but is deficient in implementation.
‘’We have developed a culture of mendicancy,’’ Sotto pointed out.
Sotto’s brother, actor and TV personality Vic Sotto, added humor to the otherwise serious political issues discussed by the national candidates.
He raised the hands of his brother and Lacson at the Imus Grandstand.