Press freedom assured under Lacson admin

Freedom of the media and transparency of government will get a premium under a Lacson presidency, Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said Thursday.

Lacson, who is running for President under Partido Reporma, said there is no reason for the government to hide what it is doing if it is not involved in any wrongdoing.

“Una, ang freedom of the press hindi lang importante sa demokrasya. It is democracy itself (Freedom of the press is not just important to democracy. It is democracy itself),” he said at the first LACSON-SOTTO media forum.

“Bakit kami kailangan magtago? I’m all for it (Why should we hide anything? I’m all for press freedom),” he added.

For his part, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III – who is running for Vice President under the Nationalist People’s Coalition – vowed to uphold freedom of information.

“We will pursue freedom of information. We would want complete independence for (the media),” Senator Sotto said.

Meanwhile, Lacson reiterated he and Sotto are prepared to present solutions to the country’s problems. He said he stressed this anew in a meeting Wednesday evening with ambassadors.

“May nakahanda kaming solution, katulong namin mga expert sa kani-kanilang fields of interest. Nakahanda kami magbigay ng solusyon sa problema sa ating bansa (We have prepared solutions with the help of experts in their own fields of interest. We are ready to present solutions to the country’s problems),” he said.