Seconding Speech of Senator Loren Legarda In the Nomination of Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson as Senate President Pro Tempore | September 8, 2025

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues:

Ang tama ay ipaglaban. Ang mali ay labanan. These words capture the essence of Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson’s public service. They are not mere slogans, but a creed he has lived by in more than fifty years of public service as a police officer, humanitarian, and legislator.

On just the twelfth session day of this Congress, while many committees were still preparing to organize, Senator Lacson had already pieced together a puzzle long hidden from the public eye. True to his role as the “watchdog of the national budget,” he examined budget allocations line by line and deployed his team to the ground to take photographs, video, and even drone footage, verifying whether flood control projects were genuinely carried out, or mere illusions on paper.

This is the work of Senator Lacson: to let truth speak through evidence, and prove that integrity is not negotiable. His diligence does not rest on rhetoric but on facts that can not be silenced, on unrelenting investigation, and on a discipline that few can match. Time and again, he has shown that his purpose is singular: to confront corruption head-on and to ensure that the Filipino people receive nothing less than clean and honest governance.

No one dares question his commitment to this standard. For if there is one word that defines Senator Lacson: it is incorruptible. A proof that one man’s integrity and principle can raise the standard of us all.

For these reasons, I second the nomination of Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson as Senate President Pro Tempore.

Thank you.