Lacson: Repentance alone can’t stop corruption

Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday said that mere “repentance,” without the corresponding corrective action, was not enough to clear public officials involved in corruption or wrongdoing.

Lacson agreed with former Taguig City mayor Lino Cayetano, who had pushed back against his brother, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, who suggested that repentance was what mattered most amid the widespread wrongdoing.

“I agree and associate myself with Taguig City ex-mayor Lino Cayetano in this regard,” Lacson posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, sharing a quote card of the former mayor’s remarks.

“I know government officials who committed sins by stealing public funds, repented, stole again and repented again a number of times. In the meantime, people suffered because of their belief that absolution comes after repentance,” Lacson said.

Lacson, a staunch anti-corruption advocate throughout his decades-long public career, emphasized that repentance without accountability only perpetuates a cycle of impunity, harming the very people public servants are supposed to serve.

The controversy stemmed from Senator Alan Peter Cayetano’s Facebook Live broadcast last Sunday where he said that all Filipinos were collectively guilty of various forms of wrongdoing — from vote-buying to lying — and asserted that what mattered most was repentance.

“As a people, we’re all guilty... what’s important is repentance,” the senator had said.

However, his brother, the former Taguig mayor, swiftly rebutted him, branding his statement a “dangerous narrative” that was often used by traditional politicians.

“It is not in Filipinos’ nature to steal, buy votes, or lie. Neither is the solution and absolution in mere repentance,” Lino Cayetano said in Filipino.

“Let’s not normalize corruption. Let’s fight it,” he added.

Lacson’s remarks added weight to the growing sentiment among reform-minded officials and the public that moral platitudes must be backed by real consequences. The former Philippine National Police chief turned senator has long been vocal about institutional reforms and has consistently called for greater transparency, accountability, and the strict enforcement of anti-graft laws.