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Defying the old boys club

Man at the Market

Jesse E.L. Bacon II

04/24/2009

The one politician who has consis-tently yet posi-tively defied the “old boys club” mentality in performing his professional or political tasks and responsibilities is Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. Unfortunately, however, many among his peers now or professional colleagues in the past have failed to appreciate the impact of his behavior toward good governance.

When Lacson was a field commander overseeing the Cebu Metrodiscom, he defied traditional practices by his predecessors of cornering logistical and financial allocations only for the command even if it prejudiced the lower commands. He did this by ensuring that logistical support such as gasoline be distributed to the field commands under him. Before him the practice was to use this particular logistical support partly for public relations effort of the Metrodiscom commander.

Because of his stance in this regard, Cebu Metrodiscom’s crime index was greatly reduced while the number of crimes solved by the police drastically increased. Even high-profile cases such as kidnapping of members of prominent families in Cebu were solved. But Lacson remained defiant to the pressures of his peers to receive gifts from victims of solved crimes especially kidnapping.

His track record as Cebu Metrodiscom commander earned for him the recognition of the Cebu City government who adopted him as its son.

When he became the provincial commander of Laguna, Lacson again displayed his resolve to defy the “old boys club” practices by rejecting overtures from illegal gambling operators for a weekly payola from them just for him to adopt a hands off policy toward jueteng. And when then crime czar and Vice President Joseph Estrada tapped him to be the executive officer of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, Lacson once more showed his resolve to defy the “old boys club” mentality.

He pursued his task without fear or favor. In the process, he neutralized several high-profile criminal syndicates and drastically reduced kidnapping incidences in the metropolis that had become an industry already at that time. Lacson, however, continued his policy of not accepting any gifts from victims of crimes solved by his unit arguing that the moment he does this, his agents might be encouraged to only solve cases whose victims are in the position to offer them gifts afterwards.

Lacson embraced the same policy when as President, Estrada named him head of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force. In this new capacity he remained consistent in his principles that oftentimes defy the “old boys club” practices.

And when Lacson was named chief of the Philippine National Police by Estrada, he defied even more the “old boys club” practices in the police organization. He ordered all police commissioned officers to reduce their bulging bellies to an acceptable level or face dismissal from the service. Everyone thought the defiant police officials will defy Lacson. But he succeeded in this campaign against bulging bellies.

He ordered all police officials to immediately return all impounded vehicles suspected of being involved in any crime that they unconscionably allocated for their own use. To the surprise of the nation, hundreds of these vehicles were returned. They were so many that they occupied the entire parade grounds of Camp Crame when returned by those illegally using them. Lacson also defied the “old boys club” practice when he ordered the P50-million annual discretionary fund of the national police chief distributed among the field commands all over the country.

During his incumbency as chief of the national police, all public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers especially in the metropolis including the drivers of cargo trucks remember him for his success in stamping out kotong in the streets. Unknown to many, PUV drivers in the metropolis at that time shelled out an average of P100 out of their earnings to kotong policemen and traffic enforcers. Cargo truck drivers also shell out an average between P300 and P500 every time they make a trip. Imagine the relief these drivers experienced when Lacson successfully eradicated kotong in the streets?

As a senator, Lacson continues to defy the well-entrenched “old boys club” practices in the Senate thus earning for him the unfair tag of being magulo. But a closer look at his behavior and attitude will readily show that he is just uncompromising of any “old boys club” practice if such runs counter to his principles of good governance that he embraced even when he was yet in the police service. Pray tell me, does he deserve to be condemned for this?

(Reactions to jelbacon@yahoo.com)