Monday, March 27, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Columns So I See by Lito Banayo

From top cop to eagle eye

Lito BanayobyLito Banayo
November 25, 2019, 12:50 am
in So I See by Lito Banayo
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

"Lacson’s stint as chief of the PNP was hailed by one and all."

 

 

The evolution—metamorphosis, if you like—of Ping Lacson through the years is quite remarkable.

I may sound biased because for some years during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, I was a consultant to the senator first elected in May 2001. In 2004, when he was running for president, I was his spokesman.

But readers would surely have observed that Senator Panfilo M. Lacson has not become a one-issue legislator like some of his colleagues in that chamber.  Expected to focus on peace and order issues, he has become quite adept at most every other national concern, but particularly impressive when it comes to dissecting the ways and means by which public monies are expended.

ADVERTISEMENT

Few I suppose know that the curriculum at the Philippine Military Academy is strong on mathematics, and it would be safe to presume that the young Lacson learned his number-crunching well at the academy.

But it is not usual for policemen, or even the chief of the Philippine National Police, to be adept at the budget even of the PNP—except those who were assigned to comptrollership positions.

In fact, some have gained notoriety as comptrollers in the military or the police organization because of the manner they mishandled public monies, as in the conversion of operational funds to fatten his pocket and that of his superiors, those whose shoulders are emblazoned with metal stars.

But Lacson’s career in the Philippine Constabulary, then part of the armed forces, and thereafter with the Philippine National Police, a civilianized institution, has not been about crunching numbers or managing their budgets.  He was in intelligence and in operations, not financial administration.

His stint as chief of the PNP was hailed by one and all, resulting in the police organization’s getting an all-time high trust rating.  He stopped the everyday “kotong” which preyed on most everybody, from jeepney drivers to taxi drivers, to “viajeros” of food produce. A single bullet that killed a kotongero cop caught in the act by his operatives days after he became PNP chief gave a chilling message to the rest of the corrupt cops.

Cars confiscated from criminal elements that were kept as some kind of war booty by policemen were returned to the Camp Crame grounds, before their “Chief PNP” got to them.  

And instead of centralizing the PNP budget under his centralized control, he downloaded funds direct to police stations, the first time a director-general did.  And he earned the ire of some media persons when he cut off their monthly “stipends.”

When still a young officer in the PC corps, Lacson rescued kidnap victims, scions of the wealthy, and refused gifts of appreciation after the fact.

 And he went after the notorious Kuratong Baleleng gang which preyed on banks, killing tellers and bystanders along the way during FVR’s presidency as COO of then-Vice President Erap’s assigned presidential anti-crime commission.

In one of those encounters, a major crisis happened to his career, along with other officers of the national police.  They were accosted before the Senate and ultimately before the courts for the extermination with prejudice of Baleleng criminals whose “human” rights they were accused of trampling upon.

And then his patron, President Erap who appointed him Chief PNP above officers more senior, put him in the “doghouse” because he dared to defy orders to go slow on jueteng, ostensibly because the illegal numbers game generated livelihood for thousands of small folk, the “masa” who idolized the president.

But Ping Lacson maintained that “what is right must be kept right; what is wrong must be set right.”  And jueteng was “not right.”  It was illegal.

Tags: Lito BanayoPhilippine Military AcademyPhilippine National PolicePing LacsonPNP
ADVERTISEMENT
Lito Banayo

Lito Banayo

Related Posts

Dynasties

byLito Banayo
March 27, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
A crisis president

The appointed framers of the 1987 Constitution disliked political dynasties, but left it to Congress to pass the needed law...

Read more

Pinakbet, atbp.

byLito Banayo
March 23, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
A crisis president

"I suggest we change these (adobo or lechon as national food) to pinakbet, which after all is served everywhere in...

Read more

It’s not economics; it’s our politics

byLito Banayo
March 20, 2023, 12:15 am
0
8
A crisis president

"It is not economics, but bad politics that ails this country" Nothing could be more silly than this rigmarole our...

Read more

Because we never learn

byLito Banayo
March 16, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
A crisis president

"Because we never pro-act and only react when the problems have mounted, and because we never learn from past experiences,...

Read more

Where bullets fly

byLito Banayo
March 13, 2023, 12:05 am
0
8
A crisis president

"I will always remember what the old chairman, who became a personal friend, told me about FDIs and their aversion...

Read more

Less elections + less officials = better governance

byLito Banayo
March 9, 2023, 12:10 am
0
8
A crisis president

"We have far too many elected officials who parade themselves as ‘honorables’ even if their work for the people are...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Explosives found at Teves mill
  • First Lady posts snap of Imelda to put rumors of demise to rest
  • Standard debuts ‘Environment & Sustainability’
  • San Miguel cop chief shot dead in robbery try
  • Oil spill compensation seen eclipsing P1.1-b 2006 record
  • Brace for water interruptions, El Niño—Maynilad
  • SC sides with LTO on card project
  • Gov’t letting US dictate terms of EDCA—group

Advertisement

Latest News

Brace for water interruptions, El Niño—Maynilad

byRio N. Araja
March 27, 2023, 1:45 am
0
8
Marinduque lauds desalination project, sees end to potable water supply woes

Water concessionaire Maynilad has advised the public to be ready for possible water interruptions in the coming dry season and...

Read more

SC sides with LTO on card project

byRey E. Requejo
March 27, 2023, 1:35 am
0
8
SC sides with LTO on card project

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Land Transportation Office (LTO)’s use of the P341.7 million left in its 2016...

Read more

Gov’t letting US dictate terms of EDCA—group

byManila Standard
March 27, 2023, 1:30 am
0
8
Southwoods nails Seniors’ Fil golf crown

The Marcos administration has been misleading Filipinos on the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) by letting the United States dictate...

Read more

The capable Lady Legislators of Western and Central Visayas

byPatricia Bianca S. Taculao
March 27, 2023, 1:25 am
0
8
The capable Lady Legislators of Western and Central Visayas

Due to its booming economy, rich history and culture, and captivating landscapes, the island group of Visayas continuously impresses local...

Read more

San Miguel companies post key water savings milestone

byManila Standard
March 27, 2023, 1:20 am
0
8
MPIF Enlarges Blue Footprint for PH Biodiversity Protection & Conservation

San Miguel Corp. recorded a milestone on World Water Day (March 23, 2023) after its businesses collectively saved some 33,865,901,000...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App