Lacson to fellow candidates: Stop being politicians, start being public servants

Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is calling on his fellow candidates to stop the “beast-mode” politics and switch to public servant mode after the upcoming presidential elections on May 9.

“Ang apela ko lang sa katulad kong kumakandidato, sa ngayon pulitiko tayo pero pagkatapos ng election (Here is my only appeal to my fellow candidates: we are politicians now but after the elections), let’s all stop being politicians and let’s all be public servants and statesmen,” Lacson, who is seeking to return to Senate, said in an interview over dzRH radio.

READ: Lacson dares fellow Senate bets: Be statesmen, not politicians

He lamented that some politicians still pursue “patronage” politics and a “culture of mendicancy” even after they win because he said “they are thinking of how to remain in power after their term ends.”

“Dapat pagkatapos ng election, at naproklama na, nahalal na, dapat kalimutan ang pagiging politician. Dapat lahat kami, ituring namin sa sarili namin, public servants,” the former senator further said.

(After the elections and the winners have been elected and proclaimed, being politician must be stopped. We must all consider ourselves as public servants.)

He then cited a saying that the difference between a public servant and a politician is that a politician thinks of himself and the next election while a public servant thinks of the nation and the next generation.

Lacson is running as an independent candidate and is advocating the equitable use of the national budget to address the needs of local government units through his Budget Reform Advocacy for Village Empowerment (BRAVE).

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BRAVE, he said, aims to give substantial amounts to the local government units at the provincial, city, municipal and barangay (village) levels so they could jump-start their local development projects. RAM