Ping Lacson on forgiving political foes, how to have abs, and his near-death experience

 

Ping Lacson on forgiving political foes, how to have abs, and his near-death experience

Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is an award-winning former Director General of the Philippine National Police (PNP), now senator and presidential candidate known for his anti-crime and anti-corruption exploits, imposing a 34-inch waistline limit for the police, and refusing to use his senator’s pork barrel of P200 million a year. He authored many laws like the National ID Law, Anti-Red Tape Act, the Free Irrigation Law, etc. He gave this writer an exclusive one-hour interview. Here are excerpts:

PHILIPPINE STAR: What are the secrets of your youthfulness? How come you’re almost the same age as President Duterte but you look younger?

SENATOR PANFILO LACSON: (Laughs) Siguro hindi ko dinaramdam ‘yung mga pinagdaanan ko. Hindi lingid sa kaalaman mo na from 2001 since I left the PNP as chief hanggang 2010, hanggang umalis na si Pangulong Arroyo. Wala na sa akin ‘yon, but those whole nine years, talagang wala, miserable ang buhay ko (Maybe it’s because I didn’t take to heart too much about what I’ve been through. As you know, from 2001 since I left the PNP as chief until 2010, until President Arroyo left power. It’s nothing to me now, but those whole nine years, really nothing, my life was miserable.)

Sen. Ping Lacson and wife Alice with grandkids who call him “Papa Ping,” while his children call him “Dad.” (Photo taken before COVID crisis.)

You know, there’s really no substitute to having a clear conscience, because they hurled so many accusations against me. If you recall, they accused me of illegal drugs, this Ador Mawanay, then Victor Corpus. But it’s very gratifying, the former Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) military intelligence chief Victor Corpus, he came to my office two years ago accompanied by his “mistah” (slang for schoolmate at the Philippine Military Academy or PMA) to ask for an apology.

He explained that he was taken for a ride by Ador Mawanay. I found his apology to be very sincere. I told him: “Sir” — since he’s my upperclassman at PMA — “General Corpus, I accept your apology. No matter what transpired before, we will remain as cavaliers, as fellow PMA graduates.” After that, he even went beyond issuing a public apology during a television interview.

I’ve read the well-written, 234-page manuscript of your political foe, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s memoirs entitled Deus Ex Machina and she wrote that Ador Mawanay’s claims to the public and to military intelligence chief Victor Corpus against you “could not be substantiated.” She added: “I was told that years later, Corpus apologized for the incident.”