Vote according to conscience

The coming May presidential elections will most likely be my last. Age has a way of creeping up on you and simple activities sometimes become multi-dimensional operations. Just remembering names can be difficult; political platforms are irrelevant. In 2016, I voted for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, hoping he would use his skills and experience as a city executive and administrator, in transforming the nation into a more peaceful, progressive, and civil society. This was not to be; for all of us, the dream remains. But like many retired officers of the armed forces, we are grateful for the upgrade of our pensions to a more decent level. This could never have taken place under other administrations, and its benefits have been felt through the entire ranks of the security forces. It was a promise kept.

In the national elections of 2004, there were three candidates vying for the presidency; the incumbent Gloria Arroyo, Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ), and Panfilo Lacson. Had FPJ and Lacson been successful in forging a unity ticket, it is likely Arroyo would have lost and FPJ, the new president. This would have resulted in Lacson being a “heartbeat” away from the presidency. We all know what happened to FPJ a few months after the elections. Eighteen years after the close brush with the presidency, Ping Lacson is once again on the radar screen of a citizenry, demanding competence and integrity from the national leadership. In a recent lunch that I attended, some 15 senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, including a number of former AFP chiefs of staff, held a secret ballot on their choice for president. Out of fifteen, twelve were for Lacson.

After graduation from the Philippine Military Academy with the Class of 1971, Lacson joined the Philippine Constabulary with an assignment in the Metropolitan Command (Metrocom). As a second lieutenant, he was given an order by Metrocom chief Brig. Gen. Alfredo Montoya to arrest the mayor of San Juan, popular action star Joseph “Erap” Estrada, who was involved in an altercation with some fellow movie personalities. In the early hours of the following morning, he led a team of operatives who surrounded the mayor’s offices at a fire station along Santolan extension. At exactly six in the morning, Lieutenant Lacson knocked on the door of the mayor’s office and informed him that he was under arrest.

Over the years, Lacson has been involved in some of the most sensational criminal cases in the country: the dismantling of the feared Red Scorpion gang led by Alfredo De Leon, the Kuratong Baleleng shoot-out resulting in the death of 11 gang members, and the Salvador “Buddy” Dacer murder case. In the last two cases, he was a defendant facing murder charges. He was acquitted by the lower courts in both cases with the Supreme Court reviewing and affirming its decisions.

Times have changed. Lacson has slowly reinvented himself from that of a crime-fighter to a fighter speaking up for higher national interests. In 2003, Lacson delivered a speech at the Senate, “Living Without Pork,” detailing the evils of pork and explaining his refusal to accept the Priority Development Assistance Fund of P200 million a year that was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. He became an expert in spotting billions of pork secretly parked in so many places in the national budget. Obviously, when one is strongly opposed to pork as Lacson has been, not too many politicians particularly at the local government level, would be inclined to support you. But if there is one thing Lacson has to offer, it is leadership. Lacson has stressed leadership by example. “I consider this second to none … a leader who does not set the right example can never succeed. Consistency is important and should cut across the entire bureaucracy. If the government is corrupt, how can we expect the citizenry to remain upright? These are principles that I have adhered to in my years of public service.”

For some sectors of society, there is a dark side to Lacson’s reputation. Unfortunately, when one is involved in anti-crime activities, one must be prepared to step on delicate toes, displease friends, and even create enemies. As Lee Kuan Yew put it, “Between being loved and feared, I have always believed Machiavelli was right. If nobody is afraid of me, I am meaningless. When I say something, I have to be taken very seriously.”

The surveys have not been kind to Lacson. But if we continue to go down the money road, we will end up a bankrupt nation of rich oligarchs at the top and suffering masses at the bottom, a sure mix for bloody revolution.

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