MANILA – Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson warned against what he described as “homegrown traitors,” referring to Filipinos who are allegedly willing to sell the country in exchange for personal gain.

Lacson, who has spent more than five decades in public service, nearly half of which involved intelligence work, said such individuals are among the most common sources of information in geopolitics.

“In geopolitics, the most common sources of information are technical intelligence and homegrown traitors who are willing to sell their country in exchange for what’s in it for them. In intelligence operations, it is called ‘recruitment in place,’” Lacson said in a post on X.

The senator earlier rejected a suggestion to give up the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), saying it would be equivalent to surrendering Luzon or even the entire country.

During the Commission on Appointments hearing last Wednesday, Lacson countered Sen. Rodante Marcoleta’s suggestion that the Philippines relinquish the KIG by citing a long-standing legal principle supporting Philippine ownership of the area.

Lacson said lawyer and adventurer Tomas Cloma discovered and occupied the Spratly Islands under the principle of “res nullius,” which holds that whoever discovers and occupies a territory may be recognized as its owner. Cloma later turned over ownership of the territory to the Philippine government.

He also noted that Filipino families are currently residing in the KIG, a municipality in Palawan, which Lacson visited in 2021.

Lacson, a former member of the Philippine Constabulary and former chief of the Philippine National Police, has consistently spoken out in defense of the country’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, including opposition to what he described as bullying by China in the area.