Lacson: OK with new faces in Senate but veterans must finish jobs

Former Senator Panfilo Lacson. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Panfilo Lacson agrees with calls for new faces in the Senate, but he also stressed that veteran legislators are returning to the august chamber due to unfinished business.

Lacson said this in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart on Thursday after being asked about calls that other individuals should be elected to the Senate as recent surveys showed that leading candidates are either former senators or individuals from political clans.

“I agree. The Senate, like any institution, should evolve. Dapat hindi naman kailangan pare-parehong mukha ang bumabalik doon. But then, I’ll say it is up to the electorate,” said Lacson, who is making another senatorial bid.

(The same faces should not be coming back to the chamber.)

“And I feel meron pang puwedeng gawin [ang veteran legislators], may mga unfinished business like pending bills na di napasa,” he added.

(And I feel we, veteran legislators, can work on our unfinished business like pending bills that have not been approved.)

According to Lacson, an example of an unfinished business is his proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 1405 or the Bank Secrecy Law, which has not passed the committee level.

“For example, I kept filing the proposed amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act. Once you enter government as a clerk, janitor or president, you should waive your (bank secrecy) rights under the BSA. Unfortunately, this does not even escape the committee level. And sometimes it is not even heard by the committee. This is an unfinished business,” he explained.

“And when I witnessed what happened this year to the national budget, I feel that I can still do something to continue being a vanguard of the national coffers,” he added.

Lacson clarified that he is not disappointed with the Senate’s current roster, but he said he wants some decorum restored, just like when former Senate President Vicente Sotto III was in office.

Sotto, Lacson’s running mate in the 2022 presidential race, is also eyeing a Senate comeback.

“What I remember is that when SP Sotto was the presiding officer of the Senate, I remember the UK Parliament because we witnessed it when we visited the UK Parliament.  The MPs (members of the parliament) marched together going to the session hall. And we observed that. Two minutes before 3:00 p.m., that’s the start of the session, we were all marching off from the lounge at the back of the session hall to the session hall,” Lacson said.

“And it was a pleasant sight to see. That’s the context of what I said that it might be good to bring back decorum observed during the Senate presidency of VST (Vicente Sotto III). Because that was lost, I miss that. Because before SP Sotto took over, we’re not in order at the session even after 3:30 p.m. Many reporters were there talking with people until the SP bangs the gavel. It doesn’t look good,” he added.

According to a Pulse Asia survey released on Tuesday, the following senatorial aspirants would be in the Magic 12, in particular order, if elections were held in September:

• Erwin Tulfo
• Ben Tulfo
• Sotto
• Pia Cayetano
• Bong Go
• Rodrigo Duterte
• Abby Binay
• Bong Revilla
• Lacson
• Manny Pacquiao
• Imee Marcos
• Ronald dela Rosa

READ: Who’ll be in Senate ‘Magic 12’ if polls held now?

Of these possible senators, five are seeking reelection (Cayetano, Go, Revilla, Marcos, and Dela Rosa), three are not incumbent but are former senators (Sotto, Lacson, and Pacquiao), and four have relatives who are incumbent senators (Erwin and Ben Tulfo, with Senator Raffy Tulfo; Pia, with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano; and Abby, with Senator Nancy Binay).

In a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations, 10 out of the top 12 aspirants are part of the administration’s slate, with Tulfo also topping the poll.

READ: 10 Marcos-backed senatorial aspirants in winning circle of SWS survey