MANILA - The Philippines needs to return to a two-party political system and address political dynasties and bureaucracy, a senatorial candidate said Monday.

Lawyer Alex Lacson, who is vying for a Senate seat under Vice President Leni Robredo's slate, said he ran for public office again to "radically reengineer and reorient our political system, our government , our bureaucracy."

The bestselling author and former news columnist had failed to join Congress in 2005 and the Senate in 2010.

"Itong multi-party system natin has become very chaotic, na kung sino ang ma-elect na presidente halos lahat ng politiko nagsisilipatan, parang political prostitutes. We need to go back to 2-party system. Sa 2-party system, pagandahan talaga sila ng plataporma, ng performance, ng serbisyo," he told ANC's Headstart.

(Our multi-party system natin has become very chaotic that whoever wins the presidency, politicians will transfer to their party like political prostitutes. We need to go back to 2-party system. In a 2-party system, they will compete for the best campaign platform, performance, and service.)

There is also a need for an independent appointing body, said Lacson, a member of Kapatiran party-list.

"We also need bureaucratic reforms, ang major reform ang example d'yan ay itong (an example for major reform is) Comelec (Commission on Elections). There are only 7 members of Comelec but 5 of them are from Mindanao, 3 of them from Davao, as if Davao is now the Philippines," Lacson said.

Lacson, who placed 20 to 27th in a recent election survey with 28 percent of respondents saying they were aware of him running, said he believes the public is "looking for real change."

"Although 28 percent lang ang awareness level ko, most of them would like to vote for me," he said.

"I'm not a politician. I just want to push for radical reforms. Kailangan hanapan natin ng solusyon itong (We need to look for solutions for) big problems that we have. I'd like to use the people's initiative power, build a machinery, educate the people about the need for this and push for them.

Lacson said the Duterte administration's drug war was a "big failure" and that he supports the International Criminal Court's investigation.

"I really believe the truth must come out, the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings must be sent to jail," he said. "Ninety percent of the drug war is rooted in poverty. We should address poverty."

As for federalism, Lacson said he supports it but the country needs to address political dynasties first.

"We need to have an anti-dynasty law or else every region/province will become territory of dynasties," he said.

The Philippines must also ally with its neighbors and the Quad nations (US, Australia, Japan, India) and stand its ground against China, according to Lacson.

"My opinion is that we need to build our alliances in ASEAN, build alliances with these quad countries," he said.

The senatorial aspirant, meantime, said he does not agree with compulsory COVID-19 vaccination.

"I really would like to respect individuals’ decisions and rights on that kasi (because) it involves medical intervention. There are people who are for whatever reason we have to respect that decision," he said.

He added that he was "for equal treatment and equality of all, including LGBTQ in the country."

"Ninety percent I'm okay with it. Just 10 percent na kailangan nating suriin (we need to look into) like penalize parents when they perform parental guidance, we need to also respect doctors when they exercise their right to practice in accordance to their beliefs," he said.

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