About Ping
The Man Behind the Relentless Warrior
By: Dra. Minguita Padilla
Part V: When Daggers Flew
"I never thought people would believe the lies because the accusations were so unbelievable. That's why I didn't bother to refute the accusations early on. That was my mistake. I should have answered them earlier. It was Senator Nene Pimentel who urged me to answer them once and for all. That's when I delivered my privilege speech in defense of my honor."
These are Ping's thoughts when he recalls how he handled the vicious and well orchestrated demolition job and demonization campaign lodged against him in 2001. He gave the public the benefit of the doubt and took it for granted that they would not believe the fantastic lies and tall tales peddled about him. After all, he had been the darling of the crowd and the most popular official of the country just a few months before; and his accomplishments and track record could speak for themselves. Or so he thought. He neglected one important dictum, that "a lie, repeated often enough, becomes viewed as the truth". His prolonged silence gave his adversaries a chance to "define him"'; and the public at large bought it; hook, line and sinker.
He had just been elected a Senator in 2001, when the poisoned daggers emerged from the woodwork. They flew from all directions, and pierced him where it hurt most.
Throughout his career, he had never accepted any bribe money; he had eliminated "kotong" making him a hero to the working masses; and he had brought discipline and honor back to the police force. But he was now being accused of stashing hundreds of millions in foreign banks. He had successfully rescued an unprecedented number of kidnapped victims and turned down the reward money offered to him. This can be attested to by the victims he saved as well as their families. Yet he was now being accused of masterminding kidnapping for ransom crimes. He strove to be fair even as he enforced the law against hardened criminals. Yet he was now being accused of the heinous killing of innocent civilians. He had put a lot of drug traffickers behind bars, but he was now accused of being a drug dealer.
He had tried his best to live an honorable life based on the values he learned as a child, and he always tried to lead by example. He had rejected the trappings of corruption; sacrificing a lot of material comforts in the process. And for all this he was now being pictured as a monster.
The accusations were bad enough. But the most painful part of the cross he and his family had to bear was the fact that people believed the lies; among them those people who they thought were supporters and friends. Only an unfeeling machine would have escaped the experience unscathed. Ping was badly wounded.
Fortunately, the passage of time and the history that has been written with it, have all but vindicated Ping Lacson. Almost all of the accusations against him have been proven false; and his expose's proven true. The FBI has denied that Ping has millions stashed in the United States. Drug enforcement agencies all over the world will attest to the fact that Ping Lacson is not a drug dealer, rather, that he was unflinching in fighting the scourge as law enforcer. Character assassins who formed part of the chorus that demonized Ping have also started to come out with the truth that they were paid to make up stories to destroy him. One such person is Blanquita Pelaez, who, in the course of her recently published "tell all" interview, admitted that people connected with the present administration paid her and others, to make up stories to demonize Ping, including stories about houses owned by him in the United States, millions stashed away, connections to drugs and kidnapping, etc… Ping is confident and hopeful that in God's time, all the lies will be debunked, the truth will be known, and the doubts people may still have about his character finally put to rest.
That the public has warmed up to him since then was evident with his impressive showing during the 2007 senatorial elections where he placed number 3 among the winners. Nowadays this is also obvious in the overwhelming warmth and welcomes he gets wherever he goes. This support cuts through all socio-economic classes, through gender and religion. This palpable warmth with which people receive him has helped Ping overcome his fear of rejection; a fear that was an offshoot of the public rejection he experienced as a result of the vilification of 2001. A man of lesser character or of a weaker faith would have probably given up and walked away. But Ping chose to hold on and walk on, lonely as the journey has often been.
And his faith and perseverance have paid off. With the gradual emergence of the truth, he has started to heal. With every stone unturned, with every lie unraveled, his resolve to continue with the battle strengthens. He is also inspired by the fact that many of his staunchest supporters today are those who, because of the lies, used to think of him as the devil incarnate. These people have the zeal of converts, a power very difficult to overcome.
Perhaps the irony of this all is that the healing of Ping's psyche and of his soul comes at a time when much of our country is wounded and hurting; where the impunity of those in power has led many to surrender to a learned helplessness; and where hope has all but vanished from the hearts of a great number of our people. But then again, perhaps it is not irony but serendipity. For it is when his people are most wounded and most vulnerable that a true warrior must rise to the occasion.