Arsenio Lacson
Encyclopedia
Arsenio H. Lacson was a Filipino
journalist and politician who gained widespread attention as Mayor of Manila
from 1952 to 1962. An active executive likened by Time
and The New York Times
to New York
's Fiorello La Guardia, he was the first Manila mayor to be reelected to three terms. Nicknamed "Arsenic" and described as "a good man with a bad mouth", Lacson's fiery temperament became a trademark of his political and broadcasting career. He died suddenly from a stroke amidst talk that he was planning to run in the 1965 presidential election
.
. He was related to Aniceto Lacson
, the President of the short-lived Republic of Negros. His niece, Rose
, would later gain prominence as a controversial socialite in Australia.
A sickly lad, Lacson turned to athletics while a student at the Ateneo de Manila University
, where he would obtain his Bachelor of Arts
degree. He became an amateur boxer while a student, accounting for his broken nose that later became a prominent feature of his profile.
Lacson studied law at the University of Santo Tomas
. After graduating and passing the bar examinations in 1937, he joined the law office of future Senator
Vicente Francisco, and later, the Department of Justice
as an assistant attorney. Lacson also worked as a sportswriter before the outbreak of World War II
.
on April 26, 1945.
For his service during the war, Lacson received citations from the Veterans of Foreign Wars
and the Sixth United States Army. Years later, when asked by Japan
ese Prime Minister
Nobusuke Kishi
if he had learned Japanese during the war, Lacson responded, "I was too busy shooting at Japanese to learn any."
Manuel Roxas
, whom he nicknamed "Manny the Weep". In 1947, President Roxas ordered Lacson's suspension from the airwaves. The incident drew international attention after former United States Interior Secretary
Harold L. Ickes
defended Roxas's action and in turn drew rebuke for such defense from the popular radio commentator Walter Winchell
.
In the 1949 general elections
, Lacson ran for and won a seat in the House of Representatives, representing the 2nd District of Manila. He was elected under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. During the two years he served in the House, Lacson was cited by the media assigned to cover Congress as among the "10 Most Useful Congressmen" for "his excellent display as a fiscalizer and a lawmaker.
mayor Cesar Climaco
were touted as exemplars of good local governance. Climaco, in fact, was praised as "The Arsenio Lacson of the South".
At the time Lacson assumed office, Manila had around 23.5 million pesos
in debt, some of which had been contracted thirty years earlier, and had no money to pay its employees. Within three years, the debt had been reduced in half, and by 1959, the city had a budget surplus of 4.3 million pesos and paid its employees twice the amount earned by other local government employees. By that time, Lacson claimed that the income earned by Manila for the Philippines supported 70% of the salaries of the national government officials and members of Congress, as well as 70% of the expenses of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
.
Lacson embarked on crusades to maintain peace and order and good government in Manila. He fired 600 city employees for incompetence, and dismissed corrupt policemen. He personally led raids on brothel
s masquerading as massage parlors and on unauthorized market vendors. Lacson ordered bulldozers to clear a squatter colony in Malate
that had stood since shortly after the war. Lacson established a mobile 60-car patrol unit that patrolled the city at all hours, and he himself would patrol the city at nights in a black police car. Lacson also established the Manila Zoo and the first city underpass
, located in Quiapo
, posthumously named after him.
Throughout his ten years as mayor, Lacson maintained his radio program, which now aired over DZBB
and would also later be broadcast on television. The broadcasts were pre-recorded in order to edit out his expletives and occasional foul language. He spoke out on air on national and international issues, and responded to critics who suggested that he confine himself to local Manila issues that he did not lose his right as a citizen to speak out on public affairs upon his election as mayor. He was a fervent critic of President Elpidio Quirino
of the Liberal Party
. In 1952, upon the filing of a criminal libel complaint against Lacson by a judge whom he criticized on his radio show, Quirino suspended Lacson from office. Lacson remained suspended for 73 days until the Supreme Court
voided the suspension order.
Though the hard-drinking, gun-toting Lacson projected an image of machismo
, the author Nick Joaquin
observed:
, who would go on to defeat the incumbent Quirino. After President Magsaysay's death in a plane crash
months before the 1957 presidential election
, Lacson claimed that Magsaysay had offered to name him as the Nacionalista candidate for Vice President, in lieu of incumbent Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia
. According to Lacson, he declined the offer, telling Magsaysay "the time has not yet come".
Nonetheless, after Magsaysay's death, Lacson turned against the newly-installed President Garcia, and considered running against Garcia in the 1957 election. In April 1957, Lacson went on a national tour in order to gauge his nationwide strength as a presidential candidate. While the tour indicated considerable popularity of Lacson in the provinces, his potential run was hampered by a lack of funding and a party machinery. It was believed that Lacson would have easily won the presidency in 1957 had he obtained the nomination of either his Nacionalista Party, then committed to Garcia, or the rival Liberal Party, which would select Jose Yulo
as its candidate. The American expatriate and industrialist Harry Stonehill later claimed that Lacson had asked him to finance his campaign against Garcia. When Stonehill refused, Lacson decided not to run, and thereafter, staged a rally at Plaza Miranda where he denounced the United States and what he perceived as the subservience of the Philippine government to the Americans. In his career, Lacson was frequently tagged as anti-American, and he had criticized the United States for having no foreign policy "but just a pathological fear of communism".
Garcia won in the 1957 election, and Lacson became a persistent critic of the President throughout his four-year term. In 1961, Lacson turned against the Nacionalista Party and supported the presidential candidacy of Vice-President Diosdado Macapagal
of the Liberal Party. He was named Macapagal's national campaign manager and was attributed as "the moving spirit behind a nationwide drive that led to Macapagal's victory at the polls". Not long after Macapagal's election, Lacson returned to the Nacionalista Party and became increasingly critical of the President, explaining "I only promised to make Macapagal President, not agree with him forever." Lacson was considered as the likely presidential candidate of the Nacionalistas for the 1965 elections
, and when that prospect was mooted by his death, the party would select Senator Ferdinand Marcos
, who would defeat Macapagal.
.
A high school
and a street in Sampaloc, Manila
have been named after Lacson. A statue in his honor was likewise erected in present-day Plaza Lacson, which is behind Sta. Cruz church. Another statue was erected along Roxas Boulevard facing Manila Bay, this time of Lacson seated on a bench reading a newspaper.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
journalist and politician who gained widespread attention as Mayor of Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
from 1952 to 1962. An active executive likened by Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Fiorello La Guardia, he was the first Manila mayor to be reelected to three terms. Nicknamed "Arsenic" and described as "a good man with a bad mouth", Lacson's fiery temperament became a trademark of his political and broadcasting career. He died suddenly from a stroke amidst talk that he was planning to run in the 1965 presidential election
Philippine general election, 1965
A senatorial election was held on November 19, 1965 in the Philippines. The Nacionalista Party wrestled back control of the Senate; originally a Liberal, Senate President Ferdinand Marcos defected to the Nacionalistas, became their presidential candidate and won this year's election...
.
Early life
Lacson was born in Talisay, Negros OccidentalTalisay City, Negros Occidental
Talisay City is a 5th class city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. It neighbors Silay City to the north, and Bacolod City to the south. According to the August 1, 2007 census, it has a total population of 96,444 people. As of 2007, it has a total land area of 20,118 hectares...
. He was related to Aniceto Lacson
Aniceto Lacson
Aniceto Lacson y Ledesma was a sugar farmer, revolutionary general and businessman in the Philippines. He was the fifth son of seven children of Lucio Lacson y Petronila and Clara Ledesma of Iloilo, Philippines who migrated to Negros when Aniceto was still young...
, the President of the short-lived Republic of Negros. His niece, Rose
Rose Porteous
Rose Porteous , a Filipino-born Australian, is best known for her marriage to Lang Hancock, a West Australian iron ore mining magnate, and the protracted legal battle with her step-daughter, Gina Rinehart, over the circumstances that lead to the death of Hancock, and the distribution of his estate...
, would later gain prominence as a controversial socialite in Australia.
A sickly lad, Lacson turned to athletics while a student at the Ateneo de Manila University
Ateneo de Manila University
The Ateneo de Manila University is a private teaching and research university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits...
, where he would obtain his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree. He became an amateur boxer while a student, accounting for his broken nose that later became a prominent feature of his profile.
Lacson studied law at the University of Santo Tomas
University of Santo Tomas
The Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines , is a private Roman Catholic university run by the Order of Preachers in Manila. Founded on April 28, 1611 by archbishop of Manila Miguel de Benavides, it has the oldest extant university charter in the...
. After graduating and passing the bar examinations in 1937, he joined the law office of future Senator
Senate of the Philippines
The Senate of the Philippines is the upper chamber of the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, the Congress of the Philippines...
Vicente Francisco, and later, the Department of Justice
Department of Justice (Philippines)
The Department of Justice , abbreviated as DOJ, is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for upholding the rule of law in the Philippines...
as an assistant attorney. Lacson also worked as a sportswriter before the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
World War II guerilla
Lacson joined the armed resistance against the Japanese military which had invaded the Philippines in late 1941. He joined the Free Philippines underground movement, and acted as a lead scout during the Battle of Manila. Lacson was joining the soldiers under the 66th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Commonwealth Army, USAFIP-NL also fought in the battle for the liberation of Baguio CityBaguio City
The City of Baguio is a highly urbanized city in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Baguio City was established by Americans in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway...
on April 26, 1945.
For his service during the war, Lacson received citations from the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...
and the Sixth United States Army. Years later, when asked by Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Japan
The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office...
Nobusuke Kishi
Nobusuke Kishi
was a Japanese politician and the 56th and 57th Prime Minister of Japan from February 25, 1957 to June 12, 1958 and from then to July 19, 1960. He was often called Shōwa no yōkai .- Early life :...
if he had learned Japanese during the war, Lacson responded, "I was too busy shooting at Japanese to learn any."
Election to Congress
Lacson resumed his career in journalism after the war. He also had his own radio program called In This Corner, where he delivered social and political commentary. Lacson became popular as a result of his radio show, but also earned the ire of PresidentPresident of the Philippines
The President of the Philippines is the head of state and head of government of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines...
Manuel Roxas
Manuel Roxas
Manuel Acuña Roxas was the first president of the independent Third Republic of the Philippines and fifth president overall. He served as president from the granting of independence in 1946 until his abrupt death in 1948...
, whom he nicknamed "Manny the Weep". In 1947, President Roxas ordered Lacson's suspension from the airwaves. The incident drew international attention after former United States Interior Secretary
United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
Harold L. Ickes
Harold L. Ickes
Harold LeClair Ickes was a United States administrator and politician. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for 13 years, from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold the office, and the second longest serving Cabinet member in U.S. history next to James Wilson. Ickes...
defended Roxas's action and in turn drew rebuke for such defense from the popular radio commentator Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
.
In the 1949 general elections
Philippine general election, 1949
Elections for the members of the Senate were held on November 8, 1949 in the Philippines. While President Elpidio Quirino won a full term as President of the Philippines after the death of President Manuel Roxas in 1948, and his running mate, Senator Fernando Lopez won as Vice President, their...
, Lacson ran for and won a seat in the House of Representatives, representing the 2nd District of Manila. He was elected under the banner of the Nacionalista Party. During the two years he served in the House, Lacson was cited by the media assigned to cover Congress as among the "10 Most Useful Congressmen" for "his excellent display as a fiscalizer and a lawmaker.
Mayor of Manila
It was only in 1951 that the office of Manila mayor became an elective position, following the amendment of its city charter. Representative Lacson successfully unseated incumbent Manila mayor Manuel de la Fuente in the first ever mayoralty election in the city. He assumed the office of mayor on January 1, 1952. He was re-elected in 1955 and 1959. He immediately became known as a tough-minded reformist mayor, and in the 1950s, he and Zamboanga CityZamboanga City
The City of Zamboanga : is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines....
mayor Cesar Climaco
Cesar Climaco
Cesar Cortez Climaco was a Filipino politician who served as mayor of Zamboanga City for 11 years. A prominent critic of the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos, he was famed for his toughness in governance and colorful personality. He is also famous for his refusal to cut his hair until...
were touted as exemplars of good local governance. Climaco, in fact, was praised as "The Arsenio Lacson of the South".
At the time Lacson assumed office, Manila had around 23.5 million pesos
Philippine peso
The peso is the currency of the Philippines. It is subdivided into 100 centavos . Before 1967, the language used on the banknotes and coins was English and so "peso" was the name used...
in debt, some of which had been contracted thirty years earlier, and had no money to pay its employees. Within three years, the debt had been reduced in half, and by 1959, the city had a budget surplus of 4.3 million pesos and paid its employees twice the amount earned by other local government employees. By that time, Lacson claimed that the income earned by Manila for the Philippines supported 70% of the salaries of the national government officials and members of Congress, as well as 70% of the expenses of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
Armed Forces of the Philippines
The Armed Forces of the Philippines is composed of the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force...
.
Lacson embarked on crusades to maintain peace and order and good government in Manila. He fired 600 city employees for incompetence, and dismissed corrupt policemen. He personally led raids on brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s masquerading as massage parlors and on unauthorized market vendors. Lacson ordered bulldozers to clear a squatter colony in Malate
Malate, Manila
Malate is an old district of the city of Manila in Metro Manila, the Philippines. The district is located at the southern end of the city of Manila, bordered by Pasay City to the south, by Manila Bay to the west, by the district of Ermita to the north and by the districts of Paco and San Andres to...
that had stood since shortly after the war. Lacson established a mobile 60-car patrol unit that patrolled the city at all hours, and he himself would patrol the city at nights in a black police car. Lacson also established the Manila Zoo and the first city underpass
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
, located in Quiapo
Quiapo, Manila
Quiapo is a district and city square of Manila. Referred as the "Old Downtown", Quiapo in known for where cheap buys or goods are being sold at rock-bottom prices and was the home of the Quiapo Church, where the feast for the Black Nazarene is held, with over millions of people attending...
, posthumously named after him.
Throughout his ten years as mayor, Lacson maintained his radio program, which now aired over DZBB
DZBB
Super Radyo DZBB 594 is the flagship AM station of GMA Network, Inc. in the Philippines. The station's studio is located at the GMA Network Center in Quezon City, while its transmitter is located at Obando, Bulacan...
and would also later be broadcast on television. The broadcasts were pre-recorded in order to edit out his expletives and occasional foul language. He spoke out on air on national and international issues, and responded to critics who suggested that he confine himself to local Manila issues that he did not lose his right as a citizen to speak out on public affairs upon his election as mayor. He was a fervent critic of President Elpidio Quirino
Elpidio Quirino
Elpidio Rivera Quirino was a Filipino politician, and the sixth President of the Philippines.A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered politics when he became a representative of Ilocos Sur from 1919 to 1925. He was then elected as senator from 1925–1931...
of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Philippines)
The Liberal Party of the Philippines is a liberal party in the Philippines, founded by then senators Senate President Manuel Roxas, Senate President Pro-Tempore Elpidio Quirino, and former 9th Senatorial District Senator Jose Avelino, on November 24, 1945 by a breakaway Liberal group from the...
. In 1952, upon the filing of a criminal libel complaint against Lacson by a judge whom he criticized on his radio show, Quirino suspended Lacson from office. Lacson remained suspended for 73 days until the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the Philippines
The Supreme Court of the Philippines is the Philippines' highest judicial court, as well as the court of last resort. The court consists of 14 Associate Justices and 1 Chief Justice...
voided the suspension order.
Though the hard-drinking, gun-toting Lacson projected an image of machismo
Machismo
Machismo, or machoism, is a word of Spanish and Portuguese origin that describes prominently exhibited or excessive masculinity. As an attitude, machismo ranges from a personal sense of virility to a more extreme male chauvinism...
, the author Nick Joaquin
Nick Joaquín
Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila...
observed:
Presidential ambitions
In 1953, Lacson actively campaigned for Nacionalista presidential candidate Ramon MagsaysayRamon Magsaysay
Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay was the third President of the Republic of the Philippines from December 30, 1953 until his death in a plane crash in 1957. He was elected President under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.-Early life:Ramon F...
, who would go on to defeat the incumbent Quirino. After President Magsaysay's death in a plane crash
1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash
The 1957 crash of a Douglas C-47 plane named "Mt. Pinatubo" on the slopes of Mount Manunggal, Cebu, Philippines, killed the 7th President of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay, and 24 other passengers. The crash is estimated to have occurred at 1:40:00 AM, March 17, 1957, Philippine Standard Time...
months before the 1957 presidential election
Philippine presidential election, 1957
Presidential, legislative and local elections were held on November 12, 1957 in the Philippines. Incumbent President Carlos P. Garcia won his opportunity to get a full term as President of the Philippines after the death of President Ramon Magsaysay in a plane crash in March 1957. His running mate,...
, Lacson claimed that Magsaysay had offered to name him as the Nacionalista candidate for Vice President, in lieu of incumbent Vice-President Carlos P. Garcia
Carlos P. Garcia
Carlos Polistico García was a Filipino teacher, poet, orator, lawyer, public official, political economist and guerrilla leader...
. According to Lacson, he declined the offer, telling Magsaysay "the time has not yet come".
Nonetheless, after Magsaysay's death, Lacson turned against the newly-installed President Garcia, and considered running against Garcia in the 1957 election. In April 1957, Lacson went on a national tour in order to gauge his nationwide strength as a presidential candidate. While the tour indicated considerable popularity of Lacson in the provinces, his potential run was hampered by a lack of funding and a party machinery. It was believed that Lacson would have easily won the presidency in 1957 had he obtained the nomination of either his Nacionalista Party, then committed to Garcia, or the rival Liberal Party, which would select Jose Yulo
Jose Yulo
José Yulo was the Chief Justice of the Philippines during the Japanese Occupation and was Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives from 1939 until the World War II started in 1941.-Career:...
as its candidate. The American expatriate and industrialist Harry Stonehill later claimed that Lacson had asked him to finance his campaign against Garcia. When Stonehill refused, Lacson decided not to run, and thereafter, staged a rally at Plaza Miranda where he denounced the United States and what he perceived as the subservience of the Philippine government to the Americans. In his career, Lacson was frequently tagged as anti-American, and he had criticized the United States for having no foreign policy "but just a pathological fear of communism".
Garcia won in the 1957 election, and Lacson became a persistent critic of the President throughout his four-year term. In 1961, Lacson turned against the Nacionalista Party and supported the presidential candidacy of Vice-President Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal was the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice President, serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970...
of the Liberal Party. He was named Macapagal's national campaign manager and was attributed as "the moving spirit behind a nationwide drive that led to Macapagal's victory at the polls". Not long after Macapagal's election, Lacson returned to the Nacionalista Party and became increasingly critical of the President, explaining "I only promised to make Macapagal President, not agree with him forever." Lacson was considered as the likely presidential candidate of the Nacionalistas for the 1965 elections
Philippine general election, 1965
A senatorial election was held on November 19, 1965 in the Philippines. The Nacionalista Party wrestled back control of the Senate; originally a Liberal, Senate President Ferdinand Marcos defected to the Nacionalistas, became their presidential candidate and won this year's election...
, and when that prospect was mooted by his death, the party would select Senator Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
, who would defeat Macapagal.
Death
As mayor, Lacson had faced several attempts on his life. He twice disarmed gunmen who had attacked him, and survived an ambush as he was driving home one night. Yet it would be a stroke that ended Lacson's life at the age of 50. He was fatally stricken at a hotel suite while preparing to leave to do his weekly radio and television broadcast. Lacson was buried at the Manila North CemeteryManila North Cemetery
The Manila North Cemetery , which measures 54 hectares, is considered the biggest and one of the oldest cemeteries in Metro Manila. Beside it are two other important cemeteries, namely the La Loma Cemetery and the Manila Chinese Cemetery...
.
A high school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
and a street in Sampaloc, Manila
Sampaloc, Manila
Sampaloc is a district of Manila which is primarily a residential and educational center. Part of the Malacañang Palace is located in Sampaloc. The University of Santo Tomas, University of the East Manila are part of the University Belt to name a few, the famous Dangwa flower market at Dimasalang...
have been named after Lacson. A statue in his honor was likewise erected in present-day Plaza Lacson, which is behind Sta. Cruz church. Another statue was erected along Roxas Boulevard facing Manila Bay, this time of Lacson seated on a bench reading a newspaper.