Strengthening foreign liaisons could be just what is needed to beef up the government’s war against illegal drugs, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson.
He said this was the formula that he used in his law enforcement days to coordinate with other countries in preventing the entry of illegal drugs to the Philippines.
“We coordinated at the time with liaisons from all countries, as part of our efforts to prevent the entry of illegal drugs),” said Lacson, standard-bearer of Partido Reporma in the May 2022 elections.
He said that when he headed the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), he had a unit that concentrated on foreign liaisons to exchange intelligence information, among others.
Lacson noted the PAOCTF’s liaison group would coordinate with anti-drug authorities of allies like the United States, Hong Kong, and Australia.
Such an approach could be helpful in the present time, where drugs are brought into the Philippines through technical smuggling, Lacson said.
Lacson also reiterated the need to make sure the Bureau of Customs’ processes are modernized, computerized and automated, to bring down if not eliminate the opportunities for human intervention – and corruption.
Lacson meanwhile said he could have supported Vice President Leni Robredo under a united opposition ticket had she been more forthright with him and the public about her desire to seek the presidency as well.
Lacson made the statement in an interview aired over DZMM Teleradyo on Wednesday to settle once and for all debates over previous unification talks that Robredo initiated with him and his running mate Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III.
According to Lacson, he and Sotto already had an agreement with their supporters before Robredo—and later Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon—reached out to them to propose a so-called unification concept, which turned out to be a negotiation for her presidential bid.
To recall, before Robredo announced her decision to throw her hat into a then less crowded presidential race, Lacson and Sotto were the first to declare their intentions to seek the top two highest government positions in the 2022 national elections as a tandem.
“When we had our conversation with the Senate President, you know, she presented her concept to unify. I said, why not? So, it crossed my mind that if we were united, our joint forces would be stronger,” he said.
At that point, the thought of withdrawing his candidacy was out of the question for Lacson since he and Sotto already announced their respective electoral bids. He said if ever Robredo made up her mind to join the presidential race, they would instead adopt Sotto as a ‘common candidate.’
Lacson initially wanted to retire from politics at the end of his second term in the Senate, but was convinced by Sotto—his longtime colleague and partner in public service—to try and make another run for the presidency, knowing that he is the most qualified to implement their shared advocacies.
Under his unification proposal, Lacson expressed he would be able to honor his commitment to the people who were rallying behind him while at the same keeping the door open for Robredo in case she decided to run, but it was rejected outright by the vice president herself.
“The answer she gave me was ‘it was not possible…’ So that was when I realized unification was never the goal of our discussion. It was unification under a candidate that had similar aspirations [to lead] and that candidate was her. That made me a bit disappointed,” he said.
While he respected her right to seek the highest public office as any other politician, Lacson said it is not fair that her supporters keep trolling him on social media and pinning the blame on him alone as the reason why their so-called unification talks did not prosper.
“What she cited as reason [for rejecting the proposal] was her own experience when she filed her certificate of candidacy and withdrew it yet people still voted for her, wasting their votes. But when she was explaining, she said once she filed [her candidacy], she would never withdraw.”
“I found what she was telling us a bit inconsistent to what she was telling the public. I’m sorry but I will have to tell the people since you asked me because, according to the trolls, I was the one who ruined our possible unification—no,” he added.
Lacson then disclosed that by the time Robredo and Drilon warmed up to his proposal during their second meeting, it was already too late. He said he only agreed to have that discussion because he thought they had other ideas in mind.
Robredo and Drilon are party mates under the Liberal Party. Sotto, meanwhile, belongs to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), which he also chairs. Partido Reporma has forged an alliance with NPC to push for the Lacson-Sotto tandem.
Both Lacson and Sotto are backed by the National Unity Party chaired by former Interior Secretary and veteran political strategist Ronaldo Puno, who serves as their campaign manager. Partido Reporma is also supporting the senatorial bids of public health advocate Dr. Minguita Padilla, former national police chief Guillermo Eleazar, and former Makati congressman Monsour del Rosario.
