Lacson eyes undercover agents to catch corrupt officials

MANILA, Philippines — Undercover operatives posing as applicants, or engaging in other transactions to entrap government officials involved in extortion, will be among the drastic measures against corruption to be implemented by the administration of Sen. Panfilo Lacson should he be elected president.

Lacson said that such drastic measures will keep the “Inept, Corrupt and Undisciplined (ICU)” members of the bureaucracy on their toes, for fear they would be caught and punished.

“In the bureaucracy, we can field operatives who pretend to be applicants, to catch mulcting employees. The corrupt employees will soon be on their toe because they don’t know if the applicant they are extorting from is a secret operative,” Lacson said in an interview on Radyo 5 Friday.

“It is good to adopt a drastic approach to remove the ICUs in government,” he said, even as he vowed to lead by example like what he did as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) from 1999 to 2001 and what he continues to do as a senator.

Lacson said while he, as president, would have power only over the executive branch of government, this drastic measure will put those in the legislature and judiciary on notice.

“I believe that if the judiciary and legislature see that the executive branch is working properly after being rid of corruption, they will follow suit. That is human nature,” he said.

Lacson, running under Partido Reporma, said he had done this to get rid of the “kotong culture” in the PNP that jibes with his and his vice presidential bet Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s campaign theme of fixing the government’s ills, “Aayusin ang Gobyerno, Aayusin ang Buhay ng Bawat Pilipino (Fix the government, fix the lives of every Filipino).”

He earlier said he will wage a no-nonsense internal cleansing in the bureaucracy in his first 100 days in office and ensure the government is efficient, corruption-free and prudent in using taxpayers’ money.

Lacson said government’s thrust “is a science-based, data-driven, and future-proof platform that can withstand the test of time.”

He said over P700 billion was lost to corruption every year – going straight into the pockets of the few who lust for power. Each year, every peso from Filipino taxpayers lost its value, thus each vote lost its meaning.

“For the longest time, we have witnessed how corruption, the worst form of thievery, destroys our nation – deny our people their livelihood, health, education, equal opportunity, and worst, the future of our next generation,” he said.

“We are scared of being stolen from, but every election we vote in thieves,” the longtime public servant said.

He stressed it was clear to him who the enemies were: the pandemic, poverty, lack of jobs, huge national debt, hunger, challenges to education – and “the most painful of them all: the rampant theft and corruption of the people’s money.”

Under a good government, Lacson said there would be funding for quality health care, led by the full P260-billion investment in the Universal Healthcare Act of which he was one of the principal authors.

As the country transitions from COVID-19 pandemic to “endemic,” his policy will be quality, accessible and affordable health care with a target of one hospital bed per 800 population, more benefits for all health workers, and health stations in each barangay.

With such a clean government, Lacson said a thriving economy will return, with ample support for micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMEs) through comprehensive and targeted fiscal stimulus packages.

He said access to quality education is also his priority, with a school in all geographically isolated, disadvantaged and conflict-affected areas. Senior high school students will get the opportunity to earn a monthly allowance from a government internship program, and more students would be assured of completing their college degrees.

Lacson also committed to advance a “reformed” 4Ps or the conditional cash transfer Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program not just to sustain, but to bring out of poverty the lives of poor Filipinos with the aid to be paired with a decent livelihood.

He said under his leadership, agriculture will be strengthened, and priority given to providing seeds, fertilizer, irrigation systems, machinery and facilities to boost the productivity of food providers.

Lacson also vowed to wean the country away from an “importation-dependent mentality” that he said was killing the local agriculture sector.

He said he will push for a meaningful budget reform to bring down to the country’s villages the excess or unused funds that national agencies fail to utilize, to the tune of P300 billion yearly.

North Korea also an issue

Apart from closely monitoring the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Philippine government should also be “vigilant and prepared” on the situation in North Korea, Lacson said yesterday.

The senator, who chairs the Senate committee on national defense and security, cited continued reports of recent aggressive behavior from North Korea, including the firing of a suspected ballistic missile days before presidential elections in South Korea.

“We need to watch this carefully, this is very close to us and quite unpredictable,” Lacson said.

While North Korea claimed its tests last Feb. 26 and March 4 were connected to a new reconnaissance satellite program, the United States said analysis indicates it may be testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

A statement from the US Indo-Pacific Command said the “recent series” of ballistic missile launches by North Korea “violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to DPRK’s neighbors and the international community.”

The US Indo-Pacific Command has increased its surveillance and reconnaissance collection in the Yellow Sea, and enhanced readiness among its ballistic missile defense forces in the region.

The senator said the Philippines thus needs “to be equally vigilant as any flashpoint involving the Republic of Korea and Japan affects thousands of Filipinos in these two countries, aside from military responses from other quarters.”

He however expressed hope that diplomacy will prevail.