Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said he will pursue his plan to apply the same strategy he used in the past as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief in radically purging the culture of corruption within the government.
When he was PNP chief, Lacson recalled the specific methods he used to separate good public officials from rogue policemen.
The senator was referring to his policy of planting undercover agents within the bureaucracy, which was the same thing he did when he headed the PNP.
“As much as possible, we'll get them or catch them in flagrante delicto, ano, on-the-spot. Nang sa ganoon wala nang maraming problema pa sa presentation ng ebidensya (So that we won’t have any problems when presenting evidences). And we know how to deal with it because ginawa ko na rin ‘yan doon sa PNP (I did that when I was in the PNP),” Lacson said during a recent interview with a Zamboanga City-based online radio station.
Lacson said he would impress upon his future subordinates the same “leadership by example” principle that he had been holding on to since he started his public service career from his days as a soldier, policeman and throughout his three terms as senator.
“It’s not enough that a leader is not corrupt. Kailangan, there should be more. Kailangan alam niya ring gawing hindi corrupt ‘yung kanyang mga tauhan, ‘yung kanyang mga kasamahan sa gobyerno (There should be more that needs to be done. It is necessary that he knows how not to make sure his subordinates in government be corrupt),” Lacson stressed.
Other anti-corruption mechanisms which Lacson said he also plans to do should he become president include conducting an internal cleansing among members of the bureaucracy in the Executive branch during his First 100 days in office, as well as his waiver of rights and privileges under the Bank Secrecy Act.
According to the lawmaker, his previous methods were proven effective at that time of his PNP stint and he was able to significantly reduce the number of so-called bribe-seeking (kotong) cops off the streets.
He said this helped restore public trust in the oft-maligned police organization.
“I would like to believe, and I’m confident,(that] this was really felt by our motorists, our business owners, traders, and even our common commuters,” Lacson said.
Under a Lacson presidency, the senator said he wants whatever anti-corruption policies he would be able to implement within his legal authority to be sustained.
He said he and his running mate, Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III, are already preparing some measures to achieve this goal.
“Kailangan talaga sustained, hindi pwedeng ningas-cogon. Hindi pwedeng lip service. Kailangan talaga gawin, i-implement. So, mayroon kaming mga nakalatag nang mga programa rito, kung ano ‘yung ipapatupad namin (It really needs to be sustained, we can’t start it as a temporary measure. We cannot pay only lip service to such a policy. We have to implement it. So, we have laid down some programs regarding this, the proposed policies we plan to execute),” he said.