Government officials should lose their sense of entitlement and have the sensitivity for the public’s welfare even in common things like using restricted roads during heavy traffic, Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and running mate Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said Thursday.
To prove they are not above the law, Lacson and Sotto revealed they have received tickets and paid fines for overspeeding – one after the other on the Skyway.
Earlier, the longtime public servants were reacting to reports that some politicians and government executives were using the dedicated bus lanes on EDSA in Metro Manila, or worse employing “wang wang” (siren) police escorts to clear traffic for them as they rush to their meetings across the metropolis.
“First off, abuses should be avoided, because the entitlement… you know, that feeling of entitlement should not be there,” said Lacson.
“We should all be the same, whether you’re on a government vehicle or just in a hurry. If it says ‘bus lane’, (it’s only for a) bus lane; or if it’s an ambulance lane, the same. Let’s not get mixed into areas where we will cause congestion,” he added.
Lacson repeated his vow to remove the so-called “kotong” (bribe-hunting) cops—who are again preying on motorists with the return of traffic in the National Capital Region—once he is elected President after the May 2022 polls, noting that he already did so during his stint as Philippine National Police chief and is unafraid to do so again.
“We can… because we did it when I was Chief PNP, we really got rid of ‘kotong’ on the streets, but now we will not just get rid of ‘kotong’ in the streets. If the two of us, the Senate President and I, are given a chance (to be elected), the ‘kotong’ in the whole government will be gone. The key to it is there should only be one standard, no one should be exempted,” he further said.
Sotto, who usually drives his own car every day to work, also recalled a time when he was driven by his wife’s driver, who then made an illegal turn despite the Senate President’s warning in Greenhills, San Juan.
When traffic officers stopped them, Sotto told them to confiscate the license of his driver.
According to Article 11 of the Constitution, senators are immune from traffic violations performed in the course of their duties.
According to Sotto, he never used a bus lane because I know it’s forbidden. So these drivers who are showing off, those politicians or Cabinet officials that pass there, catch them. The PNP or the traffic management bureau people should apprehend them.
On the “wang-wang” issue, Lacson said he only employed escorts when, as national police chief, he was suddenly summoned by then-President Joseph Estrada to a meeting in Malacanang from his office in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Otherwise, he forbade his PNP regional commanders and subordinates from clearing the roads for him, even on his trips in the provinces.
“So, for me, I always put myself in the shoes of the other guy – those who get swept aside by the “wang wang” escorts. If we’re all in a hurry, then the solution is to plan early, and to leave early so you won’t be late. Others, knowing they can use the “wang wang” push their time to the limit,” said Lacson.
Lacson said he had “proven it for myself… Because we’re talking about sensitivity here. Be sensitive to what others feel (about an issue). Very seldom for me, when I was being called by President Erap and I had to rush, that’s the only time I used the “wang-wang” from Crame to Malacanang.
About his speeding tickets, Lacson related: “One time I was driving, I was enjoying my drive, and I went over the speed limit. This was on the Skyway. So I was caught, I was hailed. You know what they said to me? ‘You’re the second person we’ve apprehended here. The first was Senate President Sotto.”
The leading tandem accepted the tickets and fines because they admitted their mistakes, Lacson said.
He said our attitude should be like that, not when you’re already wrong but you’re insisting you’re right, and introduce yourself (as an important person) then say ‘You can’t catch me.’
“Over time, we’ve lost that discipline because of our feeling of entitlement. Whether you’re a public official or not, we should follow the law,” said Lacson.
The veteran lawmakers’ attitudes were praised by Partido Reporma senatorial candidates Guillermo Eleazar and Monsour del Rosario, who also attended the “Meet the Press” online gathering.
“That is correct, for me the certainty that whether you’re a policeman or whoever, when you violate the law, you will be caught and be penalized. That is a big deal,” he said.
“That’s why it’s different when the person on top, who will implement the law, is someone reliable, and I hope we give this chance (to lead) to the Partido Reporma, to our Senator Ping Lacson who would sit (as president) with Tito Sotto,” said former PNP chief Eleazar who is running for senator under the Lacson-Sotto tandem.
Del Rosario, the former congressman, actor and martial artist, agreed with Eleazar and said it was why he was solidly behind the reform advocacies of Partido Reporma and the Lacson-Sotto duo.