Lacson to immediately re-file this anti-corruption measure if he wins as senator

Ping Lacson (Mark Balmores/ MANILA BULLETIN)

LAOAG CiTY—True to his hardline stance against corruption, administration senatorial candidate Panfilo “Ping” Lacson he would file right out of the gate a measure that will help expose the ill-gotten wealth of government officials and employees if and when he wins in the 2025 polls.

“The first bill I will file, and I have done this in past Congresses, will be on the waiver for the rights to the Bank Secrecy Act of all government officials, from the lowest clerk or janitor, all the way up to the President,” he said in Filipino at a press conference here Tuesday, before the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas’ proclamation rally.

Lacson is a former Philippine National Police (PNP) and a former multi-term senator.

He said that such measure would also allow the early detection of questionable bank transactions like in the case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, where billions of pesos were reportedly transferred to her accounts from 2018 to 2024.

The last version of Lacson’s bill was Senate Bill (SB) No.26, which Lacson filed in 2019 or during the 18th Congress. It strips public servants of the “protection” from the Bank Secrecy Act, which prohibits disclosure or inquiry into bank deposits as a general rule.

He noted the Bank Secrecy Act’s provision prohibiting the disclosure of or inquiry to bank deposits has frequently been exploited to “hamper and stall investigations” of government officials and employees suspected of enriching themselves while in public office.

Also covered by the bill are members of the uniformed services, as well as of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs).

Lacson received a warm welcome here from residents who showed their support for him.

In the 2016 elections, he topped the senatorial race in Laoag City, and placed second in the entire province of Ilocos Norte.