On first day as president, Lacson will waive rights under Bank Secrecy Law

Presidential aspirant and Senator Panfilo Lacson on Friday reiterated his promise to waive his rights under the Bank Secrecy Act on his first day as president of the Philippines.

“On the first day of my office, waiver of my rights under the Bank Secrecy Act at ie-encourage ko lahat ng employees ng gobyerno (I will encourage all employees of the government)— officials and employees—to do the same,” Lacson said during the presidential forum organized by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP).

However, Lacson said he could not mandate this to his subordinates as they also have their “individual rights.”

“I cannot mandate it but I can encourage them because these are individual rights. But I am going to set the tone of my presidency to establish a clean government. Leadership by example ang tawag namin d’on (that’s what we call it),” he added.

Congressional inquiries

Consistent with his push for transparency, Lacson said he would not ban his Cabinet members from attending congressional inquiries.

“Hinding hindi (iba-ban) kasi ang ipu-push natin ang transparency. Paano magtatagumpay ang isang administrayon kung magtatago tayo ng mga dapat malaman ng publiko?” he pointed out.

(We will never ban them from attending these inquiries because we are pushing for transparency. How will an administration succeed if it will hide the truth from the public?)

To recall, President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered Executive department officials and employees to stop attending the Senate investigation on the government's COVID-19 medical supply purchases during the onset of the pandemic.

Lacson is one of the senators who scrutinized the government procurement of COVID-19 supplies, involving P42 billion from the Department of Health.

Moreover, Lacson said he believes the system for check and balances in the government is already “in place” but he vowed to stop the padrino system as this marred the appointment system in the bureaucracy.

“Naging kultura na ang kultura ng palakasan. ‘Yan ang ating ihihinto. Kaya nga kailangan isa lang ang standard na susundin at magagwa mo lang ‘yun kung ikaw ay may leadership by example,” he said.

(It has become a culture in the government that those who are close to the president are being appointed. We will stop that. That’s why we need to follow one standard and we can only do that through leadership by example.)

“Pagka iba ang trato mo sa kaalyado, kaibigan, kamag-anak at iba ang trato mo sa hindi kaalyado at kalaban sa poitika, hindi tayo magtatgumpay… HIndi puwedeng double standards. Kailangan isa lang ang standard sa pamamalakad,” he added.

(If you treat your allies, friends, and relatives differently from the others, we will not succeed. We should not allow double standards. We should follow one standard in governance.) — RSJ, GMA News