Lacson: Presidential bid hinges on surveys, God

Rappler.com

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Lacson: Presidential bid hinges on surveys, God
Former senator Panfilo Lacson says he's not ruling out a team-up with Vice President Jejomar Binay

MANILA, Philippines – Former senator Panfilo Lacson said on Tuesday, April 28, that he will seriously consider a second run for the presidency if he attains a double digit rating in coming surveys on potential candidates.

Lacson said in an interview on ANC  that he has been going around the country for the last week and a half to gauge the public’s pulse on his possible bid. (READ: Lacson eyes presidency in 2016)

“If there is a big improvement on [public] consciousness [on my bid] and hit double figure in the survey, that would probably encourage me to go further,” he said.

On the reliability of surveys, Lacson said:  “Rightly or wrongly, whether we believe the surveys or not, we should be guided by surveys. There’s no other way to know the pulse of the people other than the recognized and existing surveys.”

The results of the latest nationwide surveys on voter’s preference on potential presidential candidates showed Lacson at 6th place with a 1% rating, far from the consistent frontrunner, Vice President Jejomar Binay.

The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results showed Binay in a statistical tie with Senator Grace Poe.

Lacson attributes his current low rating to the fact that he had only expressed openness to the presidency recently. He is more known as a potential senatorial candidate in 2016, and has rated second among possible senatorial contenders in polls.

Asked when he would make a decision, Lacson said, “At the latest, September.” He said an initial indication on where he ranks among presidential contenders will come “June or July,” when the next round of surveys results are expected to be announced.

Rappler sources had said that the camp of Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is also awaiting the June survey results before making any decision to seek higher office.

Team-up with Binay?

When asked, Lacson indicated that he’s not closing his door to a possible team-up with Binay – a pronouncement that is expected to raise some eyebrows as the latter has been hounded by allegations of corruptions. Lacson’s supporters describe the former senator as “incorruptible.” 

Asked if he is not closed to the idea of a team-up with Binay, he said, “Not at all.”

He confirmed that at the height of the pork barrel scam and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) issue, Binay casually asked him to “join him” during a Cabinet meeting. This was when he was still rehabilitation and reconstruction czar and had not made up his mind on seeking higher office.

Asked to comment on a possible team-up with Duterte, who is also known for his iron fist stance against criminality, Lacson laughed and said, “Baka maubos (They might be depleted).” While he did not complete his sentence, he was apparently referring to criminals.

He said that Duterte’s sudden rise in the surveys on potential presidential candidates happened when Binay was being hit with corruption allegations during his stint as Makati mayor.

“People are looking for an alternative. So that’s how fluid the situation is when it comes to Philippine politics,” Lacson said.

‘Act of God’

Responding to questions, Lacson said while the survey results provide a guide for candidates, dramatic changes in the country’s political landscape should not be discounted.

“If we look back at recent political history, the political landscape in the country has dramatically changed. It can change overnight,” he said, citing the case of President Benigno Aquino III came out of nowhere to win the 2010 elections.

He also cited the case of Senator Grace Poe, who surveys predicted to be at 23rd place in the 2013 senatorial race but emerged as the topnotcher. Poe has also become the top choice for vice president, based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey. 

Lacson reiterated that the presidency and the vice presidency are willed by God.

“The presidency, even the vice presidency is an act of God. Being mayor, governor, congressman, senator – that can be planed – but the presidency or even the vice presidency, while it can also planned, it takes an act of God to make you one,” he said.

‘EO 1’

Should he run and win the presidency, Lacson said Executive Order 1 would be the creation of a “very strong, fully-equipped anti-corruption unit in the mold of the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau of Singapore.”

“That could serve as a virtual law enforcement arm of the Ombudsman….Parang may police sila (It will be like the Ombudsman’s police unit).” Lacson said he made a similar proposal when he was tapped by Aquino, but it was shot down over legal questions.

Lacson added that he would order the construction of a “big detention facility in an island like Carballo or Corregidor Island” for all convicted public grafters and plunderers, bringing to mind the infamous Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in the US.

 

Lacson was also asked about a possible pardon grant to former president now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, if she is convicted of plunder charges under his “presidency.” 

Arroyo, who is detained at the Veterans’ Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City for a plunder case,  is suffering from “multiple cervical spondylosis” or the wearing off of the bones. She formally sought house arrest before the anti-graft court on April 8, citing humanitarian considerations.

“I’ll think about it very seriously but right now, this much I can say: all the vilification campaign done against my person, what I can say is I’ve forgiven her, I’ve forgiven all those who have done all the black propaganda against me.”

Lacson ran for president in 2004, and placed a distant third to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Fernando Poe Jr. He garnered 3.5 million votes.

Aquino is expected to announce his endorsement for the presidency by end-June. – Rappler.com

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