Sen. Panfilo Lacson. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Following a rise in COVID-19 cases, presidential aspirant Senator Panfilo Lacson on Sunday renewed his commitment to protect small business owners and industries from recurring threats to their health and livelihood, as he cited the continued existence of “morally and politically corrupt” individuals even amid a pandemic.
In a statement, Lacson vowed to “level up his crusade” against “all kinds of thieves in and outside of government.”
Lacson, who earned a reputation as a national budget “watchdog” in the Senate, said he would institute much-needed fiscal reforms to prevent “syndicates” from pillaging taxpayers’ money.
In his nearly 18 years as a lawmaker, Lacson also refrained from taking “pork barrel” funds on the belief that such resources are prone to abuse.
“Ang masama talaga, ang kasuklam-suklam, ‘yung kinokomisyunan mo [ang kaban ng bayan]. Hirap na hirap na ‘yung Pilipinas… Pagkatapos napupunta sa bulsa ‘nung mga ibang mambabatas [‘yung pondo],” Lacson told a recent radio interview, as he promised to end this culture under his presidency.
(What I find extremely disgusting is the practice of earning commissions [from the national budget]. The Philippines is already struggling so hard… And yet there are some lawmakers who were pocketing [portions out of those public funds].)
Meanwhile, Lacson reiterated that there should be “no trade-off” between health and economy, saying Filipinos must not be put in a situation where they would have to choose between their jobs and their safety amid the country’s fight against the pandemic.
At the start of the new year, the Philippines reported 3,617 and 4,600 additional infections on Saturday (Jan. 1) and Sunday (Jan. 2), respectively.
Lacson also renewed his call for the government to prioritize local manufacturers, contractors, industries, products, and services over those produced by foreign entrepreneurs and businesses.
Such policy would be part of his proposed “Lacsonomics,” which he describes as a “comprehensive future-proof economic strategy” aimed at striking a balance between trade and healthcare with the end goal of keeping all affected industries afloat as much as possible.
Considering that 63.2 percent of the country’s labor force comes from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which cover 99.5 percent of the country’s industries, Lacson stressed that it would be “totally unfair” should MSMEs be forced to shut their businesses anew because of an uptick in COVID-19 cases.
“Ang laki-laki ng tama [ng pandemya sa industriya nila] so dapat buhayin. Mabuti ‘yung tourism medyo nabubuhay because nag-o-open up na ‘yung economy somehow. Pero ‘yung MSMEs kailangan nila ng tulong. So, kasama sa aming program of government, hatiran sila [ng tulong],” Lacson said in a press conference in Cebu City last December.
(The pandemic has hit the MSMEs so badly, therefore we need to revive their industry. The tourism sector, fortunately, has been recovering because the economy was opening up somehow. But the MSMEs need help. So, part of our program of government is to provide them assistance.)
“How? Kailangan meron tayong mga fiscal stimulus packages na i-o-offer sa kanila. Tapos ‘yung GFIs (government financial institutions) like Land Bank at saka DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) dapat mag-extend ng loan (sa mababang interes) sa kanila para mabuhay sila ulit,” he added.
(How? We should offer them fiscal stimulus packages and government financial institutions like the Land Bank and DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) must extend loans (at lower interest rates) so they can recover.)