To The Manila Times: We wish to set the record straight regarding The Manila Times editorial of Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021 (“Senate probe could harm public interests”), where it tried to link politics to Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson’s participation in the ongoing Senate probe into irregularities in the government’s procurement of medical supplies to deal with the pandemic.
Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: Lacson’s role in Senate probe clarified [Manila Times]”
From Yen Makabenta’s column in The Manila Times: Lacson is a plausible alternative candidate because he has chalked up a long and creditable record of service in the legislature, the executive and the police force. The exercise of power will not be foreign to him.
Matapos matagumpay na maitaboy palayo sa Sabina Shoal sa West Philippine Sea (WPS) ang ilang barko ng Chinese militia, ipinaabot ni Senate Committee on National Defense Chairman Panfilo Lacson ang pagsaludo sa Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Kasabay ng pagsaludo at paghanga, umaasa si Lacson na itutuloy-tuloy ng dalawang puwersa ng pamahalaan ang masigasig na pagbabantay sa mga bahagi ng WPS na lehitimong pag-aari ng Pilipinas.
Ayon sa senador, kailangang dapat na palaging alerto at listo ang puwersa ng PCG at AFP na nakatalagang magbantay sa mga bahaging pag-aari ng Pilipinas upang hindi sila masalisihan dahil hindi malayong pumasok ang mga dayuhan kapag sila ay nakalingat.
“We must not let our guard down. Since the 1990s, China has already made three incursions into our exclusive economic zone (EEZ): Mischief Reef, Scarborough Shoal, and now, Julian Felipe Reef. They are likely to do so again if we relax,” pahayag ni Lacson.
Related: Lacson to AFP, Coast Guard: Keep Up the Good Work at WPS
Continue reading “Ping, Sumaludo sa Pagbabantay ng AFP, PCG sa WPS”
After driving away Chinese ships off Sabina Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard should keep up the good work of watching over the area, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Thursday.
But Lacson stressed our forces must keep alert over our territory and maintain such an approach to intruders, lest they sneak in when our guard is down.
“We must not let our guard down. Since the 1990s, China has already made three incursions into our exclusive economic zone (EEZ): Mischief Reef, Scarborough Shoal, and now, Julian Felipe Reef. They are likely to do so again if we relax,” said Lacson, who chairs the Senate committee on national defense.
Related: Ping, Sumaludo sa Pagbabantay ng AFP, PCG sa WPS
Continue reading “Lacson to AFP, Coast Guard: Keep Up the Good Work at WPS”
Sen. Lacson’s commentary published in The Manila Times: “I am sure many Filipinos — not only those who are neither DDS nor Yellows, but even some from either political camp, whether they admit it or not — share some, if not all, of these views. We should thus continue speaking our minds independently, especially in pursuit of our national interest.”
Continue reading “Divided We Sink [published in The Manila Times]”
To The Manila Times: Please allow us to set the record straight regarding the column of Mauro Gia Samonte last April 24, where he claimed Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson made a “turnabout” by recommending the relief of Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. as spokesperson of the NTF-ELCAC.
To The Manila Times: Please allow us to set the record straight regarding your Dec. 4, 2020 editorial, which claimed, among other things, that Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson has made it his “advocacy” to criminalize red-tagging.
In an interview on ANC, Sen. Lacson answered questions on:
– reported arrest of ‘person of interest’ in the uploading of ‘tunay na narco list’ video
– Senate Bill 2219, encouraging public participation in budgeting process
– PRRD’s taking up WPS issue with Chinese President Xi
– illegal Chinese workers and SMEs
Quotes from the interview…
Continue reading “Interview on ANC | May 2, 2019”
Sen. Lacson’s office answers repeated questions and accusations about the 2019 budget in this letter to The Manila Times‘ April 1, 2019 editorial. The letter sought to answer some questions in the editorial that were addressed to the senator, though it has yet to be published.
#NoToPork
Related:
UsaPing Katotohanan: Pork and the National Budget
UsaPing Katotohanan: Pork at ang Pambansang Badyet
Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: Answering some questions in the budget conundrum [Manila Times]”
From The Manila Times: “The first line of defense against violent extremism, I believe, is education; creating awareness and cultivating our young people’s critical thinking and resilience will equip them with skills they need to detect and reject violent extremism and make informed decisions and contest extremist ideologies,” (Lacson) said.
Continue reading “Threat groups use social media to spread extremism – Lacson [Manila Times]”
To The Manila Times: Please allow us to set the record straight and disabuse the minds of your readers regarding the column of Mr. Rolly G. Reyes last March 7 where he made personal attacks against Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson – including his claim that the senator’s disclosures on pork barrel are due to a supposed fixation on Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: On Senator Lacson’s alleged ‘fixation’ [Manila Times]”
To those who remain confused about institutional and individual amendments in the budget, Sen. Lacson differentiates the two in his letter to The Manila Times.
Sen. Lacson’s letter is in response to the challenge of former Sen. Francisco Tatad for further details of the institutional amendments he proposed to the P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019. The letter was sent to The Manila Times last Feb. 19. As the reply has yet to be published after more than one week, this is also for the enlightenment of those who had read former Sen. Tatad’s earlier insinuations and challenge to Sen. Lacson.
#NoToPork
Related: In the Spirit of Transparency: Lacson Details Institutional Amendments to 2019 Budget
Continue reading “A Closer Look: Institutional Amendments to the 2019 Budget”
To The Manila Times: This is in connection with the thinly veiled insinuations made against Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson by Mr. Francisco Tatad in his Feb. 13, 2019 column in The Manila Times.
Related:
Olivar hurled personal innuendos to muddle the issue [Manila Standard]
Lacson to ‘Talking Heads’: Keep Helping Enlighten Public on Pork
Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: Senator Lacson’s ‘institutional amendments’ in 2019 budget explained [Manila Times]”
To The Manila Times: This is in connection with the column of Mr. Rigoberto Tiglao published on Dec. 21, 2018, where he made several baseless accusations and innuendoes against Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson.
Sen. Lacson’s essay on Yolanda/Haiyan, five years after, as published in The Manila Times: “In sum, Haiyan is one chapter in my public service career I will never forget — extremely difficult, many times frustrating, yet satisfying only because I worked with very competent staff and consultants who didn’t mind the limitations imposed by our own government in all aspects.” Continue reading “Haiyan: An Unforgettable Chapter in My Public Service Career [published in The Manila Times]”
From The Manila Times: Sen. Lacson’s Senate Bill 44 is one of the bills being backed by the Department of Finance to reform the country’s outdated property valuation system.
Related: Lacson Bill Sets Unified Standards, Processes for Land Valuation
Continue reading “Property valuation reforms pushed by DOF [Manila Times]”
I based my figure (PHP4.58 billion project cost as submitted by AECOM) on facts; Mr. Tiglao based his on opinion, and said “Basta” with an exclamation point. Pray tell me if it’s worth arguing with him.
For the longest time, the Senate has been renting the use of its building from the Government Service Insurance System, and its parking lot from the Social Security System. For nearly 20 years, it has been paying rental fees worth P127 million per year or P2.24 billion.
Thus, the cost of our lease payments have become enough to construct a permanent, iconic home for the Senate.
More importantly, this project is not for me or any member of the present Senate in the 17th Congress, but for the future generations of legislators and the Filipino people, just like the other iconic landmarks built by our forefathers that continue to symbolize our culture.
*****
With all due respect to Mr. Bobi Tiglao, he got his info wrong. One major consideration why AECOM won over Henning Larsen, their nearest competitor, and the three other finalists is their project cost which is the lowest at P4.58 billion (if I remember correctly).
Anyway, the P127-million-per-year rental that the Senate is paying GSIS for a subpar legislative building is our main reason for finding a need to look for a new and permanent home.
Having said that, several attempts were made to find a permanent home for the Senate in the past 18 years. It’s only now, after my colleagues tasked me in an adopted resolution as Accounts Committee Chair to make it happen.
I am one who makes sure to accomplish a task assigned to me. That has always been my training and I will not back down unless my colleagues tell me in another resolution to stop pursuing the same.
*****
From the Manila Times: Lacson said he found the claim of those saying that a national ID would infringe on people’s right to privacy inconsistent, noting that personal information are contained in passports, drivers’ licenses and other government issued IDs.
Related:
National ID bill may become law before end-June
National ID measure tackled at bicameral conference committee level
Continue reading “Lacson downplays security, privacy ‘threats’ of national ID system [Manila Times]”
From The Manila Times: THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is open to the proposal to reduce its mandatory contributions to other government agencies. Continue reading “PCSO open to charter amendment [Manila Times]”
From The Manila Times: CORRUPTION at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is so extensive that “payoffs” collected by bureau personnel could wipe out the government’s budget deficit in just two years, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday. Continue reading “‘CUSTOMS BRIBES BIG ENOUGH TO WIPE OUT BUDGET DEFICIT’ [Manila Times]”
From The Manila Times: Two senators, Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson Sr., demonstrated they were the best of the Senate, at par with the pre-martial law titans of that body such as Jovito Salonga, Jose Diokno, and yes, Benigno Aquino, Jr. If these two get to be presidential timber, I begin to have hope for our unlucky country. Continue reading “The best of the Senate, the worst of the Senate [Manila Times]”
From The Sunday Times: Much has been said and written about Panfilo “Ping” Morena Lacson Sr., the 67-year-old statesman who was born out of humble beginnings in Imus, Cavite on June 1, 1948. A principled Caviteño ever since his youth, Lacson became a permanent fixture in the political landscape because of his love for country, and truth and justice. Continue reading “A new year and a new challenge for Panfilo Lacson [Sunday Times Magazine]”
