Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Sunday said the Philippines has the right to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine especially since the country is signatory to the United Nations (UN) charter.

Lacson was reacting to the question posed during the CNN Philippines’ presidential debate where candidates were asked if they agree to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s pronouncement on the need for the government to remain neutral “for now” on the issue.

“Article 1 ng UN Charter signatory tayo. Kapag may aggressor dapat may pakialam tayo. So may karapatan tayo magkondena sa ginawa ng Russia (We are signatory to Article 1 of the UN Charter. We have a say when there is an aggressor. So we have the right to condemn against what Russia did),” Lacson said during the forum.

“While we renounce war as an instrument of foreign policy dahil nasa Constitution natin yan (because that’s in our Constitution), pero may pakialam tayo kasi signatory tayo sa (but we have a say because we are signatory to the) UN Charter,” he said.

Lacson said there is nothing wrong if the country chooses to side with peace-loving nations and to be part of the global voice that condemns the invasion.

Di masama kung makisama tayo sa mga peaceloving nations para maging bahagi ang boses natin na pagkondena kasi aggression talaga invasion.

“At ako sumasaludo kay President (Volodymyr) Zelensky. Living hero na eh. (And I salute President Zelensky. He’s a living hero already),” Lacson pointed out.

“Dahil tuwing makita ko siya kinikilabutan ako dahil naroon siya katabi ng sundalo niya at handang mamatay para sa kanyang bayan. Yan ang tunay na leader (Every time I see him, I get goosebumps because he is there with the soldiers and very ready to die for his nation. That is the mark of a true leader),” the former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief said.