In 1992, she was elected senator, a feat she would repeat three years later. As senator, she was a leading advocate of the General Agreement of Tarrifs and Trade (GATT), an agreement that has been criticized by progressive quarters for further opening the economy to the inroads of foreign investment without developing local industries.

Her refusal to grant a P125 wage increase is a source of constant conflict between her and the progressive labor movement. From 2001 to 2002, the government registered the lowest rate of land redistribution since 1992. Militant groups and their nationalist allies have consistently hit her for continuing the globalist policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and for maintaining a subservient foreign policy, as shown by her ready approval of the Balikatan military exercise and the Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement (MLSA). Human rights groups have seen in her the capacity to match the human rights record of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and cite as proof the many brutal killings of activists under her administration.

In a way, that image has worked wonders for him. Some quarters now regard him as a fearless, no-nonsense anticrime champion who may well fit the presidential prescription the country needs. His detractors, however, are also using the image to paint a picture of a “butcher,” a “prince of darkness,” someone who has little or no regard for civil liberties and who is himself an alleged master criminal. Now in the biggest political gambit of his life, Lacson is trying his best to prove his critics wrong and put a stop to his “demonization.”

“I’m banking on my track record as a policeman,” he told editors of The Manila Times. Lacson prides himself on cleaning up the police force during his brief stint as chief of the Philippine National Police, as well as on his record as top enforcer of the now defunct Presidential Anticrime Commission (PACC).

Still, there have been some misses in Lacson’s career, chief among them the Kuratong Baleleng case.
In May 1995 the media reported an early-morning encounter on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City between suspected members of the Kuratong Baleleng robbery gang and members of the PACC. Eleven members of the gang died in that incident. Lacson likes the odds, particularly since the cash-rich Filipino Chinese community is backing him up and the cards are stacked in his favor.

In surveys done by Pulse Asia and the Social Weather Stations, Lacson ranks third, along with the popular movie star Fernando Poe Jr., just two notches behind former Education Secretary Raul Roco and the broadcaster-turned-lawmaker Noli de Castro.

Just what can people expect from President Fernando Poe Jr? No favoritism, full transparency and no promises, he says. That is what he told me when I met him for the first time for a rather lengthy conversation two weeks ago.

FPJ quit high school in his second year at the University of the East primarily to earn a living for his huge brood after their father died. He is the country’s most successful and richest actor (about 180 movies made). Therefore, he has a track record to be proud of. He has a manageable command of conversational English. He clearly knows what he will do as president: “There will be full transparency,” he assures, “there will be no favoritisms.” He has prepared himself for the worst that his political opponents will throw at him, including a possible assassination attempt. “I have to run,” he says. “I owe it to our people.” That’s intensity

The conversation lasting for about 45 minutes tended to drift to extraneous topics. Here is the best portion:
How are you going to revive the economy? We are going to address that, mahaba ’yan (the problem is complicated), because it’s a chain reaction. The economy will go (up) when you address the peace and order (problem). It’s a chain reaction. I’ll try to bring back people’s trust in the government. They (my political opponents) seem to forget that particular word—trust. We should bring back trust. If you don’t have trust in a person, then the relationship is finished. It’s like swimming. If there is a lifeguard and you trust him, you go swimming, if there are no lifeguards then you don’t feel confident swimming.

As representative of Camarines Sur’s second district, the Ford Foundation and the University of the Philippines Institute of Strategic and Development Studies regarded Roco as first in over-all performance among legislators of the Eighth Congress.
Roco authored the Women in Nation Building Law, the Nursing Act, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, the Anti- Rape Law, and the Child and Family Courts Act. He prioritized women in the DECS literacy program. He was later called the "Honorary Woman."

As an oppositionist during the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, he was awarded the Bantay Katarungan Award for his "exemplary performance.” The trial, which exposed the corrupt and immoral Estrada presidency, ignited the people’s anger and paved the way to the uprising that toppled Estrada and installed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

A grateful Macapagal-Arroyo immediately gave to Roco the most sought-after department after public works and highway – the Department of Education (DepEd).

Under fire
In May 2002, DepEd employees protested against Roco for allowing the use of DepEd chauffeur Pablito Aquino, to be the personal driver of his wife. They claimed that under government rules, the use of a DepEd employee by someone not connected with the department is not allowed. Roco said there was nothing wrong at all with his wife's use of his driver, or of his use of private helicopters rented for around P200,000 in two days to visit school building constructions. He added that instead of having a backup and a bodyguard, he preferred to have two drivers.