In what could be regarded as a true display of palabra de honor (word of honor), retired police general Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar reaffirmed Friday, March 25, his support to the presidential candidacy of Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson after their political party, Partido Reporma, declared its support for a different candidate.
Eleazar, whose senatorial bid was adopted by Partido Reporma after he retired as PNP Chief last year, refused to jump ship after the political party decided to back the presidential run of Vice President Leni Robredo, an independent candidate.
"I respect the decision of my party but I also made it clear with my party leaders that my support remains with Sen. Lacson in my personal capacity—a decision which the Partido Reporma respects," Eleazar said in a statement.
Both Eleazar and Lacson are former PNP chiefs, the former served from May to November 2021 and the latter from 1991 to 2001.
Eleazar and Lacson are also graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) which core values include courage, integrity, and loyalty. Eleazar belongs to Class 1987 while Lacson is from Class 1971.
In previous media engagements, Eleazar had openly declared his admiration to Lacson and even revealed that part of the reason why he decided to run for public office is to emulate the career in the legislative branch of his "idol."
It turns out that Lacson had long been courting Eleazar to cut short his stint as PNP chief and run for senator. However, Eleazar opted to finish his term as PNP chief on Nov. 13, 2021 and only then that he accepted Lacson's offer when he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) two days after his retirement which also happened to be the last day of the filing of COCs on Nov. 15, 2021.
Still, Eleazar admitted that the current situation involving their party leaders and Lacson "presented an odd situation that entails a keener and more profound personal deliberation."
"Therefore, I choose to remain under the Partido Reporma and continuously be a part of its advocacy of working for clean and good governance that is also sensitive to the plight of the Filipino people," he noted.
Eleazar then expressed gratitude to the leaders and members of the Partido Reporma for "understanding my position" with regard to Lacson, who he described as someone "who I looked up to when I was still in the police service" and who "eventually inspired me to enter politics, believed in me, and wholeheartedly supported me."
Last Thursday morning, Lacson resigned as the chairman of Partido Reporma and its standard bearer after he revealed that the party informed him they would support a different candidate.
Hours later, Former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, the president of Partido Reporma, announced that the party decided to back Robredo's candidacy instead of Lacson.