From Manila Standard: Precisely on point is Senator Panfilo Lacson’s coined phrase “greed control” – an image Filipinos need to see in the demeanor of public officials as the country continues to reel from the destruction of natural disasters.
Curbing ‘greed control’
By Manila Standard
August 23, 2025, 12:10 AM
Precisely on point is Senator Panfilo Lacson’s coined phrase “greed control” – an image Filipinos need to see in the demeanor of public officials as the country continues to reel from the destruction of natural disasters.
We heard and saw the 77-year-old senator during his privilege speech this week in the Senate, complete with a slide presentation, where at one point he noted congressional insertions for different infrastructure projects.
Instance, Lacson pointed out that one congressional district received 55 percent of the province’s 2025 flood control budget but flooding continued because of the use of substandard materials.
What our leaders should do is to chase Lacson’s foot trail – after all the senator, who spent a total 18 years in the august chamber, said he is willing to submit evidence and even willing witnesses to investigators.
His words that gave soul to his privilege speech are persuasively logical that good men cannot ignore them: “When a few good officials or remorseful men are willing to speak truth to power, they must be heard. They must be seen.
“They must be protected. The depth of corruption has become so overwhelming that it drowns us in our sad state: More than flood control, what the Filipino people badly need to see is greed control.”
With many low lying areas north and south of the capital still in shock and disoriented following a series of unforgiving storms, with supposedly completed flood control projects failing to give assurance to the population, officials must be jabbed, with the bold letters and spirit of the book.
We heard President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. call out these shameless bipeds who were taking advantage of their towers and positions of public service entitlements and believed the chief executive that punishment for the guilty was not several corners away.
As Senator Lacson said, the 67-year-old President made the aim during his fourth State of the Nation Address before the joint session of Congress last month and today he, the senator, was pulling the trigger.
Both have pointed to the insatiable avarice of those near the slices of flood control pie needed to fund flood control projects.
Far too frequently, greed comes with stress, exhaustion, anxiety, depression and despair. Additionally it can lead to maladaptive behavior patterns like hoarding, trickery and even theft.
We cannot wait for another storm to whack the communities where flood control projects are flagrant failures.
We should go beyond the echoes of President Marcos’ and Senator Lacson’s sound bites.
Give the book to those who deserve it. And let us save the Filipinos, whose hands are waving for help just above the repugnant ripples of rampaging floodwaters.