Alex Lacson For Senator

You may be wondering who Alex “Pinoy” Lacson is. Let me tell you a story – a few years ago, Alex and his wife Pia were contemplating leaving the Philippines for greener pastures abroad. Though they were blessed to be living comfortable lives, they still had doubts whether our country offered the best future not only for them but also for their children and their children's children. These thoughts came about because many of their family relatives and friends were leaving the country to seek greener pastures abroad; and leave a country saddled with so much negativity and debt. After months of struggling with a decision, an idea came to them that instead of leaving, they can actually be part of the solution and so the journey of the 12 little steps began. Around 2005, Alex published a book that is slowly shifting our attitude. The book entitled 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country became a national bestseller and brought about renewed optimism in the people who have read it – Alex gave hope to the hopeless and he brought to bear, little things we can do to be part of the solution – that indeed, there is a new force in the country, a force for good, a force for change.

Fast forward to today, Alex “Pinoy” Lacson is running for the Senate of the Philippines. Upon hearing this, I immediately asked my parents' permission that I join Alex's team of volunteers and campaign for the man behind the Little Orange Book – probably our country's equivalent to Mao Tse-Tung's Little Red Book. 

In order to do this, I had to take a leave from my corporate life and face the consequences of derailing my professional career.

For you to understand this, let me tell you a story again. Stories give life to our journey and make it more enjoyable as people learn to see the reasons behind our actions. In 2005, after the scandal-ridden election of 2004, I was also restless and I felt our country was going nowhere. So out of desperation, I wrote a little manifesto entitled Let's Start The Revolution of the Filipino Youth and sent it to all of the leading print media bureaus. To my surprise, on August 9, the Philippine Daily Inquirer published my article on the Letters to the Editor section. After a day, I received numerous messages through my email and one of which came from a person named Alex Lacson. He invited me for coffee and we shared thoughts on how in our own little way can we help our Filipino brothers and sisters who are being left behind in the country. We shared the same dream of a Philippines that is prosperous and one that also had a culture of familihood where people commit to the noble idea that we are one Filipino family.

Alex is a great mentor and an even greater leader. I have seen in him what Jim Collins (of Built to Last fame) refer to as a Level 5 leader (the highest form of leadership) – an executive in whom extreme personal humility blends paradoxically with intense professional will. Jim Collins identifies the characteristics common to Level 5 leaders: humility, will, ferocious resolve, and the tendency to give credit to others while assigning blame to themselves.

Because of Alex's book and his ideas, I have kept my faith in the Filipino – that one day, our country, our race will rise again and we can start building a nation we can all be proud of – one that can bring out the best, the highest, and the most beautiful in our people.

And I believe the time has come...

Our New Hope, A New Force - Alex "Pinoy" Lacson