Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Friday, August 8 debunked insinuations he “played safe” when the Senate voted to archive the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte.

On Wednesday evening, August 6, Lacson was the only senator who abstained from voting on the motion to archive the impeachment complaint against Duterte which was filed by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta.

Lacson pointed out that his abstention stemmed from the still-pending motion for reconsideration filed by the House of Representatives through the Solicitor General, to appeal the high court's decision ruling the impeachment complaint as unconstitutional.

“I did not 'play safe.' Rather, I am acting out of respect for the Supreme Court,” Lacson said in Filipino in an televised interview.

"So I did not play safe. I followed the Supreme Court and I do not want to preempt it because it has not issued a final decision…I abstained out of respect for the Supreme Court,” the senator reiterated.

In his post on X, Lacson said abstention is the most compliant action to the Supreme Court's ruling compared to a "Yes" or "No" vote, "pre- or post-MR (motion for reconsideration)."

“A 'Yes' vote is tantamount to preempting the final SC ruling, post MR; while a 'No' vote (or against archiving the Articles of Impeachment) is partial, not complete adherence,” he argued.

Also, Lacson reiterated his belief the efforts to fight corruption and uphold transparency could be one of the keys for the Senate to recover from its low trust and performance ratings and to regain public trust.

He said the Senate's low ratings may have stemmed from factors including public perception of “pork” insertions by some senators, as well as the handling of the impeachment case against the vice president

“It could have been a factor, rightly or wrongly. That is the public's perception because that is what people see or read daily. It's a combination of so many factors, so we must be careful,” he said.

Lacson is referring to the survey conducted by Octa Research held from July 12 to 17 which showed the Senate's trust ratings fall from 57 percent to 49 percent; and its performance ratings fall from 53 percent to 47 percent.

The lawmaker noted that during the time the survey was conducted, some senators had been linked to the insertion of P142-billion in "bicam insertions," and some received flak over the handling of the Duterte impeachment case.

But Lacson said he is heartened with the recent actions in the Senate seeking to uphold transparency, including opening the budget process all the way to the bicameral conference committee.

He also said President Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 28 had helped put some lawmakers on the spot.

“I hope these efforts toward transparency will be sustained and we will not have a 'bulungan (whisper) bicam' for the 2026 budget,” he said.