Presidential candidate Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson praised members of his campaign team for being true public servants, worthy of being voted into office this May 9 elections.
Lacson said he is proud of having his running mate Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III by his side, together with their senatorial candidates Dr. Minguita Padilla and Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Piñol.
The presidential candidate told the Cebuanos he and Sotto have worked together for so long that they have known each other that well. The two consider themselves as like-minded partners in public service throughout their legislative careers and have shared similar ideologies and principles.
“I know that once we forged a partnership, we are like-minded. Our direction is very aligned—anti-corruption. We can tell you some anecdotes—these are true-to-life stories—where we would decline the offers made by those who were following up on legislation,” said Lacson.
The veteran statesman was referring to suitcases of money that he and Sotto politely declined from some groups or corporate individuals that were lobbying about particular franchise bills or other pending legislations at the Senate.
Lacson spoke glowingly about Dr. Padilla, describing her as ‘too humble’ to speak about her achievements in medicine and ophthalmology, her field of expertise.
He mentioned that Dr. Padilla reached out to him to seek his permission if she could extract the cornea of some casualties during their kidnap-for-ransom and anti-criminality operations to be donated to indigent patients, who needed cornea transplant to address their poor eyesight.
On former Agriculture Secretary Piñol, Lacson said although they were never that close, he earned his respect because of how he protected his integrity against people who assaulted it. He mentioned that Piñol was the only Cabinet member who voluntarily subjected himself to a lifestyle check.
Lacson, Sotto, Dr. Padilla and Piñol campaigned together in Argao, Cebu where they presented their flagship Budget Reform Advocacy for Village Empowerment (BRAVE) program, among their other proposed policies against corruption and towards good governance.
“We pledged, as I mentioned earlier, we will do our best to maintain that highest standard of public service that we have done in so many years that we were together,” the presidential candidate told the Cebuanos during their recent town hall meeting.