Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson on Sunday reminded his fellow Caviteños that “there is a God, always believe there is a God,” when he visited his home province along with running mate Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Lacson, who is running for president under Partido Reporma, recalled before Cavite local officials, as well as members and officers of local Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (TODAs) in General Trias City, a childhood experience that reminded him of God.
He said that when he was five or six years old while visiting his maternal grandparents in General Trias, he was swimming in a local river when he felt he was drowning, as he did not know how to swim then.
As he hovered between life and death, Lacson said, he vividly saw and heard the angels singing in the blue sky – before his cousin saved his life by getting a tree branch for him to hang on to.
“When I looked up to the sky while I was bobbing up and down in the water, not knowing how to swim, do you know what I saw and heard? Angels singing,” he said.
“Since then, it was like a miracle because I learned to swim. When I returned to the river, I even knew how to dive,” he added.
Lacson also noted the unique trajectory of his public life where he was forced to resign from the Philippine National Police in 2001 – due to the events of EDSA II that ousted then-President Joseph Estrada.
At the time, he was not due to retire until his four-year term as chief of the Philippine National Police would have ended on Nov. 16, 2003.
But this led him to the Senate, where he served as senator from 2001 to 2013, and from 2016 to 2022.
“Everything is designed by the One Above, designed by God. I am sure you also have your own experiences where things did not go according to your plan,” he said.
Sotto, who is running for vice president under the Nationalist People’s Coalition, said what happened showed that God has plans for Lacson.
“God indeed gave Ping a longer life,” he said, noting Lacson is now in a position to solve the nation’s problems including peace and order, economy, agriculture, and the effects of the pandemic.
Lacson and Sotto received a warm welcome from residents here. With them were senatorial bets Raffy Tulfo and Partido Reporma candidates Guillermo Eleazar and Minguita Padilla. They met with local officials including General Trias Mayor Antonio Ferrer and Rep. Luis Ferrer IV.
In Cavite, Lacson and Sotto also met with local officials and TODAs in Tanza, and paid a courtesy visit to Imus Bishop Rey Evangelista.