Peace Wins Over Terror! Lacson Welcomes SC Ruling on Anti-Terrorism Act

Peace Wins Over Terror! Lacson Welcomes SC Ruling on Anti-Terrorism Act

December 9, 2021 - Peace wins over terror!

On this note, Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson welcomed Thursday the ruling of the Supreme Court on the petitions lodged against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

"Peace wins over terror. Yan ang maliwanag diyan (Peace wins over terror. That much is clear)," Lacson, who is running for President under Partido Reporma, said at the weekly LACSON-SOTTO "Meet the Press" forum.

"Kami masaya bilang principal sponsor, masaya sa decision ng Korte Suprema. Principal author si Senate President Vicente 'Tito' Sotto III. Doon natin nakita ang collective wisdom ng magistrates (As the principal sponsor of the measure, I am happy with the decision of the Supreme Court. Senate President Vicente 'Tito' Sotto iII is the principal author of the measure. We have seen the collective wisdom of the magistrates)," he added.

"Hail, hail the Supreme Court!" added Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, who is running for Vice President under the Nationalist People's Coalition.

Lacson noted the Supreme Court decision showed the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 is still constitutional overall.

He added the Supreme Court's ruling striking down the provision that the Anti-Terrorism Council may adopt the request by other jurisdictions or supranational jurisdictions for designation means the Philippines is an independent country with its own processes.

"Nakabuti rin yan kasi nakita ng Korte Suprema na independent country tayo, may sariling pananaw, dapat igalang ang sarili nating proseso (The ruling is beneficial because the Supreme Court affirmed our independence as a country, that we have our own processes)," he said.

Lacson added that with the high court's ruling over at least 37 petitions lodged before it, the Philippines now has a chance to remove itself from the Global Terrorism Index.

In past years, he lamented the Philippines was in the Top 10 of the Global Terrorism Index, along with countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Meanwhile, Lacson said the high court's decision will also give the government the legal backbone to fight armed groups, including those involved in recent violence in Mindanao.

This will go hand in hand with development and livelihood programs to deter the return of the armed groups once they are neutralized.

"Isa sa top priorities namin ang peace and order issue di lang sa malalaking siyudad lalo na sa malalayo na di halos abot ng presence ng government (One of our top priorities is peace and order, not only for urban centers but also for remote areas where there is little government presence)," he said.

"Babalik ako sa primary program sa budget reform kung saan dapat ibaba natin ang malaking portion ng national budget sa malalayong lugar para magkaroon ng development and livelihood programs. Of course strong presence ng security forces (I will go back to my primary program of budget reform where a bigger portion of our budget will go to the local governments for their development and livelihood programs)," he added.

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Lacson to candidates: Respect elective positions

 Lacson to candidates: Respect elective positions

SEN. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson has appealed to fellow candidates in the 2022 national elections to respect the positions they are seeking and not make a mockery out of it.

The senator, Partido Reporma chairman, was running for president in next year's polls with his longtime ally, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto 3rd, Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) chairman, as his running mate.

In a speech before his fellow Caviteños in General Trias City on Friday, Lacson has urged voters to respect the sanctity of their ballots and think about the future generation when they troop to the polls on May 9, 2022.

He also made a similar appeal to other personalities involved in the 2022 polls "to give the same level of respect to the elective positions they are seeking."

"Voting is not the only thing that is scared, but running for a public office as well. Let us not play with it because we are the ones who will suffer but the next generation," Lacson said in Filipino.

With the Philippines facing tough challenges such as the ongoing pandemic, mass unemployment, economic recession, and foreign incursions in the West Philippine Sea, among others, Lacson said "it behooves every Filipino voter to take the elections seriously."

Opposition Sen. Leila de Lima has filed Senate Bill (SB) 2461 seeking to prevent the abuse of the law governing the substitution of candidates for the national and local elections.

De Lima, a former election lawyer, said SB 2461 aims to concretize into legislation the Commission on Election Rules which provide that substitution due to withdrawal must be more limited in scope than substitution due to death and disqualification.

"The Omnibus Election Code recognizes the importance of our party system and our political parties and therefore provides for an opportunity for political parties to replace their candidates before the elections," de Lima said.

"It can readily be gleaned that the practice of substituting candidates with individuals who were not party members, but only belatedly, even up to the point of taking their oath as party member only on the date of the filing of the substitute certificate of candidacy, is an outright bastardization of the privilege of substitution accorded by the law to political parties," she added.

Lacson also voiced hope that his senatorial bets — former national police chief Guillermo Eleazar, health advocate Dr. Minguita Padilla, and broadcaster Raffy Tulfo — will continue his advocacy of guarding the national budget when they make it to the Senate.

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Lacson to ‘respect, graciously accept’ Supreme Court decision on anti-terror law

Lacson to ‘respect, graciously accept’ Supreme Court decision on anti-terror law

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Senator Panfilo Lacson, who authored the Anti-Terrorism Act, on Thursday said he will “respect and graciously accept” the Supreme Court’s decision on petitions questioning the constitutionality of the controversial measure.

Lacson made the remark after the Supreme Court’s Public Information Office (PIO) disclosed that the high court has deliberated and voted on the cases against Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The ruling, however, has not been released.

“The fate of the Anti Terrorism Act rests on the collective wisdom of the magistrates of the Supreme Court,” Lacson said on social media.

“Being the principal sponsor of the measure, I will respect and graciously accept whatever ruling will be announced anytime soon. I hope the petitioners do the same,” the senator added.

The Anti-Terrorism Act was signed into law on July 3, 2020, and took effect on July 18. It is the subject of 37 petitions before the Supreme Court.

In confirming that magistrates have already voted on the issue, Supreme Court’s Public Information Chief and spokesperson Atty. Brian Keith Hosaka said that “there is a need to accurately confirm and tally the vote of each Justice in order to ensure the correct resolution of the Court per issue.”

Hosaka said that the Supreme Court’s PIO “will be releasing to the public “an accurate summary of the action of the Supreme Court with respect to the ATA case at the soonest possible time.”

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Sotto vows to solve country's drug problem

 Sotto vows to solve country's drug problem

BAMBANG, Nueva Vizcaya: Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto 3rd said he will spearhead the solving of the country's problem on illegal drugs if he becomes the vice president in 2022.

"There are many things that we can do like removing the government's headache on the problem of illegal drugs and drug abuse because this can be done by the vice president having the clout of the office of the vice president," said Sotto, running mate of presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson in the May 2022 elections.

Sotto said the program of the present government administration when it comes to illegal drugs is not focused on drug abuse.

"Illegal drugs and drug abuse are two different animals. Illegal drugs can be addressed by a supply reduction program, which the current administration has been doing, and that there is still much to be desired as far as prosecution is concerned," he said.

Sotto noted that the present administration's law enforcement on supply reduction has been done from day one, and this will not be successful if it will not be coupled with a very important demand reduction program.

"With a demand reduction program, it means that there is a need to have strong prevention and rehabilitation programs which have to be done nationwide," he said.

He explained that the prevention program can begin in the taught in Grades 5, 6 and 7 on subjects incorporated on drug abuse, or through workshops and seminars on resistance education programs.

"With this, and when these kids reach their majority age of 18, then they will know different kinds of drugs and its ill effects on their lives. They will come to know that their lives will be destroyed. They will know that their future will be shattered including their family and the future of their family," Sotto said.

He said this is the reason why there is a need for a demand reduction program.

"The office of the vice president can go around the country doing that. I did it when I was vice mayor of Quezon City, that is why I was able to bring down the drug cases in Quezon City, and from 54 percent to nine percent in the National Capital Region (NCR) as a result," Sotto said.

He said they were able to do it then in the NCR, and what is most needed now is the drug rehabilitation program.

"The government may be successful in law enforcement against illegal drugs, with prosecution being improved, but still these lack prevention. Therefore, many of our young are curious, addicted and there are many reasons why they fall prey," Sotto said.

He added that those who are already drug dependents needed to be rehabilitated, and then bring them back to society as useful and good citizens.

Sotto said the rehabilitation program of the government is pitiful because drug dependents are brought to the rehabilitation center, and after six months, they become well because they have been removed from the source, but after a while, they go back to where they were.

"Every drug dependent has a different profile from the next guy, so the rehabilitation center should profile them first, and find out whether the program is effective to the dependent, either therapeutic community program, a faith-based program, multidisciplinary program or 12 steps Minnesota program," he added.

Sotto said the rehabilitation center should profile the drug dependent and apply which program is best for them. He said there are only 58 rehabilitation centers nationwide and there are less than 20 which are accredited by the Department of Health.

Meanwhile, Sotto said that if Lacson also wins as president, it will be a council of two.

"There will be no decision-making to be done without them both agreeing," he said.

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Lacson Leads Hearing to Strengthen Coast Guard to Protect WPS

 Lacson Leads Hearing to Strengthen Coast Guard to Protect WPS

December 8, 2021 - To empower it to protect the Philippines' waters from intrusion and harassment including in the West Philippine Sea - as well as fulfill its other duties as the Philippines' primary maritime agency, the Philippine Coast Guard needs to be strengthened and its gaps addressed.

Sen. Panfilo "Ping" M. Lacson stressed this on Tuesday as he presided over a Senate subcommittee hearing to address the issues in the agency's operational, administrative and organizational concerns.

"While we all point to the Philippine Coast Guard as the primary maritime agency of the government to strengthen our country’s sensitive frontiers in the West Philippine Sea, we can no longer keep the predicaments of the agency at bay," Lacson said.

He added there is a need to discuss the apparent distortion in salaries, allowances, benefits and retirement of the PCG personnel brought about by its separation from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the subsequent enactment of RA 9993, the Philippine Coast Guard Law of 2009, as well as the system of ranks and pay rate relevant to the Coast Guard.

One issue that needs to be addressed soonest involves the unity of command especially in times of war, when the Coast Guard will be attached to the Department of National Defense under the proposed measure, Lacson noted.

He said the Coast Guard commandant has a four-star rank which is equivalent to the rank of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

"Who will take primary responsibility over whom? The reality on the ground is that the Navy has a more upgraded military capability compared to the Coast Guard," Lacson noted.

He said some options include defrocking the Coast Guard commandant while the country is at war; and to maintain the Coast Guard as the second line of defense with the Navy being the first line of defense. "And let the secretaries of the Department of Transportation and Department of National Defense deal with each other for lateral coordination."

Another issue is the need for the Coast Guard to conduct regular patrols around Pag-asa Island which Lacson visited last Nov. 20 and saw for himself the extent of harassment from Chinese vessels.

The Coast Guard currently does not have the capability to conduct regular patrols, with its nearest available vessel in El Nido, Palawan - and will need hours to reach Pag-asa, the only Filipino-inhabited island in the Kalayaan Group of Islands. It does not expect to regularly patrol the West Philippine Sea until 2022, when it gets new vessels from Japan.

"What if the Chinese Coast Guard vessels attempt to take over Pag-asa, how prepared are we to defend Pag-asa? Pag-asa is the only inhabited island. The others are shoals, classified as not really islands. Pagasa is a barangay under Kalayaan municipality," Lacson noted.

"In the dire possibility the Chinese vessels attempt to attack Pag-asa how would the PCG respond to such a situation? How capable are we to at least put up a decent defense of Pag-asa island?" he added.

Other issues involve the differences in pensions of retired Coast Guard and Navy personnel, as well as the budget needed to enhance the Coast Guard's capabilities.

Such issues, Lacson noted, "come in the foreground of the growing tension in the disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea amid the continuing Chinese intrusions and harassments on our fishermen, and very recently the water-cannoning incident against two Philippine Navy-commissioned supply vessels in the Ayungin Shoal occupied by our gallant personnel on board the BRP Sierra Madre, perpetrated by the Chinese Coast Guard."

Tuesday's hearing of the Sub-Committee of the Senate Committee on Public Services on Senate Bill No. 2322 or “An Act Providing for the Administrative Reform and Reorganization of the Philippine Coast Guard, Revising for the Purpose Republic Act No. 9993, otherwise known as the Philippine Coast Guard Law of 2009,” took up Senate Bill 2265 for the institutionalization of the PCG Auxiliary, authored by Sen. Richard Gordon; and Senate Bill No. 1112, which aims to establish the PCG Academy, authored by Sen. Imee Marcos.

The Philippine Coast Guard traces its roots from the Bureau of Coast Guard and Transportation created in 1901 during the American Occupation. It was created virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 1, on Dec. 21, 1935.

In 1967, by virtue of RA 5173, the PCG was created as a major unit under the Philippine Navy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines until March 30, 1998, when then President Fidel Ramos transferred the PCG to the Office of the President, and then to the then Department of Transportation and Communications (now the Department of Transportation).

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