It is not the system that is weak but the government officials who do not lead by example are primarily the ones to blame against the proliferation of corruption in the country, presidential candidate Senator Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson said.

Lacson presented this argument Sunday evening at the second round of the Commission on Elections’ (COMELEC) presidential debate, which opened with a question on whether it is the people who are weak or the system that allows corruption to thrive in the Philippines.

“Hindi po mahina ang sistema. Marami tayong mga batas, mga institusyon na tumatakbo. Kahinaan po ng tao, kahinaan ng tao sa gobyerno (It is not the system that is weak. We have many laws against corruption, our institutions are running. It is the people who are weak, the people in government who are susceptible to corruption),” said Lacson, who is a three-term senator.

Lacson said among the law that are already in place are the Anti-Red Tape Act (now Ease of Doing Business Act), the Government Procurement Reform Act, and the Philippine Competition Act which were passed by Congress during previous administrations to correct the system.

Aside from these, the senator said there are special courts such as the Sandiganbayan that tries and resolves cases of corruption, as well as the Office of the Ombudsman, which investigates and prosecutes government officials accused of crimes, especially graft and corruption.

“So ang kahinaan hindi po sa sistema, (kundi) sa tao na nagpapatupad ng mga Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. ‘Yan po ‘yung ating dapat supilin. Ang dapat nating palakasin ‘yung sistema ng pamamalakad (So the weakness is not the system, but the people who are implementing our laws such as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. that is what we need to conquer. What we need to strengthen is the system of governance,” Lacson stressed.