Corrupt politicians must be held accountable, not idolized — Lacson

Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson is not convinced that corrupt politicians who plundered public funds should be given a redemption arc, insisting that they must be held accountable for their crimes instead of being idolized.

In an interview with ‘The Chiefs’ aired on ONE News PH, Monday evening, Lacson lamented common observations that some Filipinos have already been desensitized by corruption issues involving public officials, who, in turn, feel emboldened that they keep getting themselves back in power.

“’Yan ang nawala sa atin, ang accountability. Over time, nakasanayan natin na kibit-balikat tayo. Parang iniidolo pa natin ‘pag isang public official yumaman sa questionable na pinanggalingan,” Lacson said.

(We seem to have lost that sense of accountability. Over time, we have learned to shrug our shoulders over issues of corruption. Some of us even idolize the supposed public servants who got rich through questionable means.)

The veteran lawmaker and presidential aspirant has a long history of running after corrupt public officials and their cohorts who either end up in jail or in exile because of strong evidence gathered against them upon investigation.

Lacson reiterated that the first major step toward fighting the never-ending problem of corruption is to implement a standard policy against erring government officials and restore a culture of accountability that we seem to have lost over the past six years.

“’Yan ang masakit ‘pag tinatawanan natin ang excesses ng government officials. Sa akin masamang indication ‘yan (It hurts to see us laugh off the excesses by some government officials. To me, this is a bad sign),” he noted.

Such loss of accountability has emboldened corrupt officials as well as contractors to engage in shady deals, especially involving multibillion-peso infrastructure projects. “Kung walang accountability sa ganoon, mamimihasa sila (If there is no accountability, they will get bolder),” he said.

Lacson has vowed to fight corruption as it robs the people of a chance at a better life. He said he has maintained a very strong anti-corruption advocacy (“Ubusin ang Magnanakaw”) from his days as Chief of the Philippine National Police to his stint as Senator.

He said that if the issue of corruption among our government officials is solved, as much as 50 percent of the nation’s problems are solved.

Lacson reiterated that if he wins the presidency, he will send a clear message to the bureaucracy and the people that he is serious in fighting corruption and establishing transparency by signing a waiver of his rights under the Bank Secrecy Act as his first official act.

“I will lead the way by signing a waiver of my rights under the Bank Secrecy Act,” he said, adding he will encourage all Cabinet members and bureau directors down the line to do the same.

Complementing this will be actions to ensure discipline in the bureaucracy, fiscal discipline, judicious spending of the budget, and digitalization and automation of government systems, among other measures to curb corruption.

“Kailangan palitan natin ang mindset. Ang mindset manggagaling sa government, hindi pwede manggaling sa society at large (We need to change our mindset on accountability and only the government can lead the way),” Lacson emphasized.