Ping: They better watch out for the Earth Rat

Would the Year of the Monkey be lucky for opposition presidential hopeful Sen. Panfilo Lacson?

By Lacson’s own account, it will be.

On the eve of the Chinese New Year, the opposition senator told faithful friends in the Chinese-Filipino community that according to feng shui or ancient Chinese geomancy, the Year of the Monkey is lucky in many ways for those born in the Year of the Rat.

"I am an Earth Rat, so they better watch out!" the 55-year-old Lacson said, referring to his presidential rivals and enemies.

The senator was invited by his Chinese-Filipino friends and the Women’s Alliance for Peace and Progress, a group supporting his presidential candidacy, to celebrate the Year of the Monkey with them.

The celebration was held at the Mandarin Palace on Ongpin street in Binondo, Manila. Because the road was clogged with vehicles, Lacson walked the short stretch from the Binondo Church to the celebration venue, greeting members of the Binondo community along the way.

In short remarks before those gathered at the Mandarin Palace, Lacson profusely thanked his friends for sticking it out with him.

"In good times and bad, through thick and thin, come hell or high water, you still are my friends," he told the group that included Jimmy Tang and Vicente Yu of the Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The crowd cheered Lacson wildly as he spoke.

He said when he was head of the Philippine National Police and Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, these were his circle of friends that helped him solve various kidnap-for-ransom cases.

They helped him locate the relatives of kidnap victims and convince them to cooperate with the police in solving the cases, he said.

When the police succeeded in rescuing some victims, the Chinese-Filipino community began trusting his men and the PNP, he said.

He pointed out that when he resigned from the PNP three years ago and was the object of black propaganda, his Chinese-Filipino friends remained loyal to him.

"I think this is an appropriate occasion for me to celebrate the Chinese New Year with them here in Chinatown," he later told reporters.

He refused to answer questions about the disqualification case filed by lawyer Victorino Fornier against his opposition rival, movie actor Fernando Poe Jr.

Asked about a statement made by Sen. Luisa Ejercito that he might succeed Poe if the actor is disqualified, he said, "I am not thinking of that."

Today, Lacson is a guest of Mayor Ambrosio Cruz Jr. of Guiguinto, Bulacan which is celebrating its 89th founding anniversary.