So Panfilo Lacson—former senator, former presidential candidate, former national police chief—will be President Aquino’s point person for the massive post-“Yolanda” rehabilitation program. At least that is what both Lacson and the President have said. Last Sunday, Lacson announced to the media that he had accepted Mr. Aquino’s offer, made a few days previously. The President has since confirmed that Lacson will be appointed, to use the phrase beloved by politicians and journalists alike, the Philippines’ rehabilitation czar.
But Lacson has not taken his oath yet, and there is no staff to work with just yet, because for some reason the executive order that will formally appoint him and detail his duties is still in the drafting process. At least a week has elapsed since Lacson received the offer; both chambers of Congress in that same span of time have approved a supplemental budget to help in the reconstruction. What, exactly, are Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa and his legal team waiting for?
(The same team was supposed to have drafted the papers that would have appointed Lacson chair of an anticorruption initiative, something both he and the President also adverted to only recently. The papers never emerged from the Malacañang labyrinth.)
We realize there is much at stake. There is the initial P40 billion allotted for the rehabilitation of the devastated areas in Samar and Leyte as well as parts of neighboring islands; while this is not one lump sum, it is still a considerable amount of money—and from all indications it is only the initial outlay. Then there is the battle of perceptions that the Aquino administration finds itself waging; it cannot afford to start off on the wrong foot in the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase. Its perceived delay in getting enough resources to the areas demolished by Yolanda in the crucial first few days has become conventional wisdom. Then there is the fate of the survivors themselves, in Tacloban and Palo, in Ormoc, in Guiuan, in Capiz, in numerous other places; for their sake, rehabilitation must be well-planned, thorough and sustainable.
Still, there is such a thing as reasonable dispatch. The administration needs to demonstrate a becoming sense of urgency, and the appointment of a rehabilitation czar is an opportunity to make that demonstration.
We realize that naming Lacson to the rehabilitation initiative is not without controversy. The grisliest joke about his appointment that is circulating on social media is a reference to his reputation, back when he was in the police force, of being a man with an iron fist. Lacson is the right man for the job, so the joke goes, because he will make all the bodies disappear.
But a case can be made that, in fact, Lacson is the right man for the job because of three significant considerations.
First, at a time when public attention is focused on the abuses of the congressional pork barrel and other lump-sum funds in the national budget, Lacson is one of the few politicians to escape with his reputation unstained by any allegation of pork abuse or corruption. Throughout his 12 years in the Senate, he had declined the use of his allocations. The massive amount of money that will either be at his disposal or will be coursed through him would be a cause for concern with almost any other politician-appointee. That won’t be the case with him.
Second, Lacson knows what it is to run, not only a national organization (he was President Joseph Estrada’s second appointee as chief of the Philippine National Police), but a military-like agency. Rehabilitation work in Eastern Visayas will likely require a command structure that he will be familiar with.
Third, he is a politician of national stature. In the nitty-gritty of rehabilitation work, conflict with regional, provincial and local officials will be inevitable. Coupled with his close political alliance with the President, Lacson will have the necessary credibility to deal with all stakeholders in the process.
We can add a fourth factor. He did not immediately accept the President’s offer, but instead asked for three days to consider the matter and to consult with experts. We take that as a good sign; he not only knows his limits but can work with specialists, too.