Partido Reporma standard-bearer SenatorPanfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson has expressed hopes that his efforts to save billions of pesos in public funds from going into the pockets of thieves would bear fruit by Filipinos giving him a chance to be their next leader.

But if pre-election surveys are any indicator, it appears there are people who don’t seem to care about corruption and its effects on the future generations, allowing themselves to be blinded by politicians who are adept at hypnotizing them with sheer folly and flattery, Lacson said.

Speaking at a political rally held at the Lorenzo National High School in Mawab, Davao de Oro over the weekend, Lacson stressed that he often wondered why most people hated to be preyed upon by the thieves yet they don’t seem to have any issue with it every election period.

‘'This is what baffles us—and we always talk about it, too—all of us are scared to be robbed of something, right? Who among us doesn’t have that fear? No one, everyone. But every election, we are the ones who keep electing the thieves,’’ he pointed out.

‘’This May, I guess some of us would still vote for someone to rob us again. That is the huge difference between what we refer to as the ordinary thief and the political thief who is in government,’’ he added.

Lacson said he and running mate Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III are willing to offer Filipinos a better alternative in terms of leadership, one that would restore their faith in a government that would ensure public funds are used appropriately to deliver essential services to them.

A Lacson-Sotto administration envisions a country where the irony between ordinary and political thieves would hopefully be a thing of the past for the sake of the future generation of Filipinos, who deserve to inherit a much better Philippines that they can be proud of.

‘’The ordinary thieves choose their victims and only get what they wanted to steal because it’s targeted. But the thieves in government, we are the ones who choose them to steal from us. And what hurts, what really hurts...,’’ Lacson said.

‘’Do you know the worst thing that the thieves in government can steal from us? Our rights to good health, the rights of our children to have quality education, the rights of our farmers to thrive in agriculture. Most important is the rights of our youth to have a better future. That is what they are stealing,’’ he explained.

Lacson implored Filipinos to think hard and assess the candidates first before voting them into office in the upcoming May 2022 elections, so that they won’t have to spend the rest of their lives feeling sorry for themselves, their children, and grandchildren for putting the wrong people in power.

‘’So once we get to our polling booths, we should think to ourselves: ‘Is this person going to steal from me?’ And let’s consider the history: ‘What is the story of this person?'" the longtime public servant advised voters.

‘’Because it is so easy to say, once you get on stage, it’s so easy to say ‘I, too, am angry at the thieves; we are going to round up these thieves’ with the index finger pointed outwards, not realizing that his other fingers are pointed at himself. That has always been a problem,’’ he.said.

Lacson and Sotto campaigned in Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur last Friday and Saturday to present their platforms of anti-corruption and good governance backed by their 83 years of combined experience and track record in public service.