Lacson vows ‘massive’ cleansing in 1st 100 days if he wins

Sen. Panfilo Lacson

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Saturday said he would undertake a “massive” cleansing of the government bureaucracy in his 100 days in office, should he win in the May 9 elections.

He, clarified, however, that the cleansing would not be indiscriminate, but one that is evidence-based and observes the rule of law.

“Such a massive internal cleansing will not be indiscriminate. It will be based on evidence against public servants who engage in corruption and other wrongdoing instead of helping their fellow Filipinos,” Lacson said in a radio interview.

Lacson gave an assurance, however, that any cleansing undertaken by his administration should not disrupt public service.

Starting point

“This [will be carried out] without sacrificing public service. This is the objective: to improve public service through internal cleansing so people will feel the benefits of services rendered by the government,” he said.

The cleansing process that Lacson said he would undertake in his first 100 days in office would just be a “starting point” of a campaign to “rid the bureaucracy of misfits and corrupt officials and employees.”

Evidence-based

“The cleansing will be evidence-based. If possible, the culprit should be caught in flagrante delicto (in the act of committing a crime),” he added.

Lacson said he was not bothered by a thinned-out bureaucracy following a “massive cleansing,” for as long as those that would remain were hard-working and honest.

The senator said he would pattern his internal cleansing of the bureaucracy after the reforms he instituted at the Philippine National Police, which he headed from 1999 to 2001.

Lacson said his cleansing program supposedly led to the elimination of the “kotong” (extorting) cops as well as the “kotong” culture at all levels of command in the police organization.

“We will focus first on government employees and officials as there are many of them there whose greed is insatiable,” he said.

According to Lacson, an administration under him will not have any cronies.

“I had already said it: There should only be one standard. The problem with other administrations is that they maintained double standards, which is what had dragged us down,” he said.

He said he does not believe in the adage that politics was an art of compromise.

“If that is the case, how can we ever move up as when we are getting abused but we can never refuse because we are buried deep in debt of gratitude,” he said.

READ: Lacson spurns Robredo’s ‘maraming salita, kulang sa gawa’ remark: ‘Hindi lang ako ma-epal’