Lacson says Duterte unlike other presidents, vows support

President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and Senator Ping Lacson INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Despite his “cussing and unstatesmanlike demeanor,” President Rodrigo Duterte still got Senator Panfilo Lacson’s support for being “not the ‘more of the same’ type of leader.”

Lacson pledged his support for Duterte and his programs on Tuesday even after Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s remark that only “sycophants and the gullible would appreciate” the President’s state of the nation address (Sona) on Monday.

READ: Trillanes: Only ‘sycophants, gullible’ like Duterte Sona

“He is entitled to his own jadedness,” Lacson said in a text message when sought for comment on Trillanes’ statement.

Unlike Trillanes, Lacson had nothing but good words for the President, who, during his Sona, made a pitch for important legislation, including the proposed tax reform package.

The tax reform measure has been approved by the House of Representatives but remains pending in the Senate.

“That is probably one of the reasons why he remains popular in all the surveys. He dares doing what past presidents did not and would not do under any circumstances,” Lacson said.

“In spite of all the cussing and unstatesmanlike demeanor, I will continue to support him and his programs because obviously he is not the “more of the same” type of leader. Having said that, change is more likely to happen during his term because he is different,” he added.

As to the proposed tax reform measure, Lacson believes that increasing taxes should be tied to expenditure, or the capacity of government to utilize the budget.

“I said that because government is still underspending under the Duterte administration,” he said.

“For 2016 alone, unused appropriations hit more than half a trillion pesos, P589,293,569,000 to be exact. Why should we punish our people with additional taxes when government cannot spend efficiently to spur development anyway?” the senator added. CBB/rga