Filipino voters don’t have to endure another six years of bad governance if they elect the right leader this time around in the person of presidential candidate Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, senatorial aspirant Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol said.
Piñol, a former Agriculture secretary, made a pitch for a possible Lacson presidency before the residents of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro on Thursday, April 2. He said that Lacson is ‘’the only public servant who is capable of turning our collective dreams of having a good government into reality".
‘’We all have dreams but those dreams cannot come true if we don’t take the first step. Do you want a clean government? Well, we can’t keep on dreaming. If you want a clean government, vote on May 9 for a clean (candidate for) president and that is Ping Lacson),’’ Piñol told voters in a town hall forum.
Lacson has kept a clear track record in politics and governance with no allegations of corruption attached to his name, according to Piñol.
But for him to win, Piñol said it is incumbent upon every eligible Filipino voter to resist the temptation of selling their votes to the highest bidder every election season.
‘’The achievement of our dream rests on us. You keep dreaming of having a good government, a clean government, but then you’re going to vote for someone who gave you P500? That would be the death of us. And then you jump to the conclusion that he (Lacson) will not win. How can he win (if you’re not going to vote for him)?’’ he asked.
Piñol and Lacson campaigned together in Oriental Mindoro where they engaged voters in a regular town hall forum held at the Pinamalayan municipal hall plaza. Some participants were straightforward with their questions and asked them if they still believed they could win these elections.
‘’I am just trying to broaden your perspectives because his question was quite deep, and I wanted to lighten it up, but my answer is also deep. We cannot eat papaya if we don’t plant papaya,’’ Piñol, the former chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), explained.
Piñol is running for senator to look after the welfare and protect the economic interests of farmers, fishermen and all stakeholders from the agricultural sector.
One of the town hall participants sought his help for some fishing equipment, including boats and dragnets, which he promised to deliver through his associate at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Lacson, on the other hand, is campaigning on the platforms of good governance and anti-corruption together with his running mate Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III. The latter was not able to join their Mindoro sortie due to prior engagements.
The presidential candidate vowed support for agricultural workers by connecting them with the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (UP-BIOTECH) based in Los Baños, Laguna that has an active research and development program.
He informed them about its latest products and services that could ease the farming process for every farmer.