No matter how lonely, no matter how tough, presidential candidate Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson expressed no regrets in his journey this 2022 election season, which, for the most part, sought to enlighten Filipinos about the challenges of public service.
Lacson opened up about his life as a “lonely crusader,” fighting against the ills of government with a few allies but often on his own.
Despite the difficulties, however, he knows he has proven himself right and he is still standing.
“All my life, all my public service life, I always go against the tide. Somehow in so many ways, even if I’m alone, I am really fighting. I was the only one who fought against pork barrel, and I was proven right in the end, that the pork barrel system was constitutionally infirm,” Lacson said.
“In so many battles that I had participated in, even when I was still in the police service or the armed forces, somehow na-pro-prove ko naman ‘yung sarili ko (I was able to prove myself),” he added.
Lacson was answering a reporter’s question if he was still up to the challenge of competing in the upcoming May 9 elections.
Lacson said he and senatorial aspirant Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Piñol are aware of the realities of the situation but they are not disappointed with the decisions they made, especially in terms of going against political traditions.
Piñol meanwhile praised Lacson for being ‘very honest’ about himself. The former Agriculture secretary also gave him credit for being consistent in his campaign against corruption, which was reflected on his selection of senatorial candidates, who readily joined his cause.
“How can we effectively campaign against corruption if the people we are with have (graft) cases? And here I am, proud to tell you that the person I am with, I can scream about anti-corruption because he has a clean (track) record,” he said.
Aside from Piñol, Lacson also handpicked public health advocate Dr. Minguita Padilla and former PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar as potential future senators who are also part of his ticket with running-mate Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III.