In an interview last May, Ping Lacson said that he is not closing the doors to a 2022 presidential bid if he has a “clear chance” of winning. In June, he openly criticized the Duterte administration’s response to the sinking of a Philippine boat by a sinking vessel. Amidst accusations of ‘posturing or 2022,’ he denied and said he was just being himself.
Sen. Lacson previously ran for the presidency against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004. He was defeated finishing behind Fernando Poe Jr. In his first term as senator in 2001, he refused his Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel amounting to P200 million per year. The pork barrel was later ruled as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
As former PNP chief, Lacson authored and sponsored bills and laws curbing criminality, systematizing the PNP ranks, the National ID System, etc.