Ping on presiding over Senate hearings with far left, far right: Who would have thought?

After more than four decades in public service, it’s hard to imagine presiding over a hearing with representatives of both the far left and the far right.

But this was exactly what happened to Sen. Panfilo Lacson, in the Senate committee hearings he chaired on alleged red-tagging.

“In my years in public service, I didn’t imagine I’d preside a hearing involving the far left and the far right, doing my best to be fair to both sides so we can get the best available information for the Senate and the public to digest and arrive at informed decisions,” he said in a post on his Twitter account on Friday.

In my years in public service, I didn’t imagine I’d preside a hearing involving the far left and the far right, doing my best to be fair to both sides so we can get the best available information for the Senate and the public to digest and arrive at informed decisions.

— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) December 4, 2020

Lacson, who presently chairs the Senate defense committee that held the hearings, had served in law enforcement from 1971 to 2001, before starting his career as a lawmaker in 2001.

During the first hearing, only representatives of the security sector were present. Representatives from the “progressive” groups attended the second and third hearings.

Earlier, Lacson also noted he was bashed online by anti- and pro-government accounts, including those traced to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Malacanang, over his charing the Senate hearings.

“That comes with the territory. Given my decades in public service, I have accepted that I cannot please everybody, especially in such a sensitive issue. But with that said, considering that both sides are bashing me on social media means I am doing something right. Otherwise, if one side keeps bashing me and the other keeps praising me, that might be a sign of bias,” he said in an interview on DZAR radio.

But Lacson said what is important is that the public has been enlightened on the issue through the Senate hearings, which he adjourned last Dec. 1.

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