Lacson hopes to catch crooked gov’t officials the way he caught corrupt cops in the past
PRESIDENTIAL candidate Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson reiterated his plan to apply the same methods he used when he was chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to separate good public officials from the rotten ones and radically purge the culture of corruption in the bureaucracy under his administration.
To achieve this, 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,” Lacson told a recent interview with a Zamboanga City-based online radio station.
When asked to explain how he would enforce discipline among public officials and separate the good ones from the bad ones, Lacson referred to his policy of planting undercover agents across various government agencies, which was the same thing he did when he was PNP chief.
“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. And we know how to deal with it because ginawa ko na rin ‘yan doon sa PNP,” Lacson said.
Lacson’s methods were proven effective at the time because he was able to significantly reduce the number of so-called ‘kotong’ (bribe-seeking) cops off the streets, thus restoring 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, ‘yung mangangalakal natin (our business owners), mga (our) traders, at saka mga (and our) common commuters,” the presidential aspirant said of his stern disciplinary measures.
Under his presidency, Lacson said he wants whatever anti-corruption policies he would be able to implement within his legal authority to be sustained. He and his vice-presidential 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,” Lacson said.
Included among these anti-corruption mechanisms that Lacson kept talking about is his plan to conduct 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.
