Lacson to voters: There are 4 kinds of Senate bets, the choice is yours
Former Senator Panfilo `Ping’ Lacson (File photo)
MANILA, Philippines — Former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson believes there are only four types of senatorial candidates in the 2025 midterm elections — and it is up to voters to pick who among these deserve a Senate seat.
At the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas campaign rally in Antipolo City on Friday, Lacson said candidates are either hard-working and honest; hard-working but corrupt; lazy but honest; and lazy and corrupt at the same time.
“Bilang panghuling mensahe, ito lang po ang aking masasabi. Ito pong eleksyon na ito, wala akong pinatutungkulan sa mahigit na 60 tumatakbong senador sa ating bansa. Apat na uring kandidato ang inyong pwedeng pagpilian,” Lacson said.
(As a parting message, this is what I have to say. For this election — I am not referring to any specific candidate among the 60 running senatorial candidates — we have four types of candidates whom we can choose from.)
“Una: ang marunong magtrabaho at hindi nangungurakot; Pangalawa: ang marunong at masipag magtrabaho pero nangungurakot; Pangatlo: hindi marunong magtrabaho, tamad, pero di naman nangungurakot; At ang pang-apat: yung hindi na nga marunong magtrabaho, tamad, nangungurakot pa,” he added.
(First: those who work hard and do not engage in corrupt activities; second, those who work hard but are corrupt; third, those who do not work well, are lazy, but are not corrupt; and fourth, those who do not know how to do their jobs and are also corrupt.)
Hope for the country, Lacson said, rests on the hands of voters.
“Ang tanong, may pag-asa po ba ang ating bansa? Ang sagot: Nasa inyo pong mga kamay ang kasagutan. Bahala na po kayong manuri at magpasiya kung sino sa apat na uri ng mga kandidato para sa senador ang inyong pipiliin,” he said.
(The question is, is there hope for the country? The answer: it’s in the hands of our voters. It’s up to you to scrutinize and decide who among the four types of candidates for senator you would vote for.)
Lacson and the rest of Alyansa are campaigning in Rizal, the seventh-most vote-rich province in the country.
Alyansa campaign manager and Navotas City Rep. Toby Tiangco said campaigning in Rizal is important as the province could swing the momentum for candidates.
In a statement, Tiangco acknowledged that Rizal is a powerhouse that could be a source of momentum in the 2025 midterm elections, adding that they will deliver a team that the province’s residents can support.
READ: Tiangco says Rizal a swing province in coming elections
Data from the Commission on Elections showed that in the 2022 national elections, there were 1.601 million registered voters in the province, with 1.298 million exercising their right to suffrage on election day. This translated to a voter turnout of 81.03 percent.
Over 765,000 of the 1.298 million voters picked Marcos in the 2022 presidential race, ahead by more than 393,000 votes to his closest rival, then – vice president Leni Robredo.
