As a clearer but a grimmer picture emerges on the extent of the damage wrought by Typhoon Odette, Senator and presidential aspirant Panfilo “Ping” Lacson directed various teams from his Partido Reporma, campaign volunteers, and even his own Senate staff to focus on helping the victims of the storm, his spokesman said Tuesday (Dec. 21).
Since Saturday, Dec. 18, simultaneous relief efforts have been undertaken by these teams in Cebu, Leyte, and Siargao with additional volunteers joining to help in Southern Leyte, Negros Island, and Palawan, Partido Reporma spokesman Ashley “Ace” Acedillo said. Through its alliance with LPGMA Party-List, Partido Reporma will also dispatch a Landing Craft Tanker (LCT) to ferry heavy equipment, housing materials, food, and water to various affected areas in Visayas and Mindanao in the next few days, Acedillo added.
Lacson, in a recent out-of-town engagement, called for a moment of silence for those who perished in the typhoon, which as of Monday (Dec. 20) has reached 375 persons, according to the Philippine National Police.
The former PNP chief once again stressed that he prefers to work quietly to aid others without media fanfare, which he believes negates the pure intentions and efforts of any would-be Good Samaritan. Lacson reiterated this in Partido Reporma’s most recent “Online Kumustahan” dialogue in Lingayen City, Pangasinan last Sunday with running mate Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and the party’s senatorial candidates.
“Ang pagdamay ay pwedeng ipakita sa gawa – hindi lang sa pagsasalita kundi sa gawa. Ganoon ang dapat na pagdamay sa ating kapwa, sa ating kapwa Pilipino na kasalukuyang naghihirap,” Lacson said.
[Empathy can be shown in actions, not just through talk, but through work. That’s how we should commiserate with our fellow man, our fellow Filipino in need.]
The three-term senator’s presidential run is anchored on his long and vast experience as a soldier, a policeman, a legislator, and a rehab czar, in the hope of offering the most effective solutions to the country’s myriad problems, which include solving the coronavirus pandemic, the looming huge national debt, poverty and loss of livelihoods, and other issues—built in more than 50 years as a public servant. (SENATE) – bny
