JANUARY 14, 2026 — In the circus that is Philippine politics, the latest spat between Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Sen. Imee Marcos is more than just a clash of personalities — it’s a mirror reflecting how our leaders choose to engage with each other, and by extension, with us, the public.

At the Kapihan sa Senado, Lacson fired back at Marcos’ hair-pulling remark, tying it to her criticisms over the alleged pork barrel allocations in the 2026 General Appropriations Act. 

“She said that we should pull each other’s hair. That was Sen. Marcos’ reaction to the issue of the alleged pork barrel in the 2026 GAA, allocables and her baseless insults and untruthful criticisms against the committee which I chair,” Lacson said.

He didn’t stop there. 

“Either Sen. Imee thought that my hair was a wig, or she was insinuating that I am gay — that is why she challenged me to a hair-pulling fight,” he added. 

And then came the punchline: “First, my hair is not a wig. I will also add that there is nothing fake about my face — my teeth are not dentures; they are all mine. I repeat, there is nothing fake about any part of my face.”

Marcos, for her part, denied calling Lacson gay and instead turned the spotlight on what she described as his shallow grasp of masculinity. 

“There is nothing wrong with being gay, and the same goes for enhancing anything about yourself,” she wrote on Facebook. “It is a person’s decision if they want to have anything done to their body. It is also their decision if they want to ruin their face, name and dignity. Both of these questions come down to the same thing: ‘HOW MUCH?’”

Now, why are we watching senators argue about wigs, faces, and machismo when the real issue — alleged pork barrel allocations — remains buried under the noise? Shouldn’t the discourse be about transparency in the national budget, not about who’s “macho” enough to belong to a Senate bloc?

Filipinos deserve leaders who debate policies, not personalities. Every time our lawmakers trade insults instead of ideas, the public loses. It’s not about who looks fake or who’s a “real man” enough — it’s about whether our taxes are being spent wisely, whether corruption is being curbed, and whether governance is being taken seriously.

This exchange between Lacson and Marcos may be entertaining, even meme-worthy, but it also risks trivializing the very institutions meant to safeguard our democracy. If senators can reduce debates to hair-pulling challenges, what message does that send to the millions of Filipinos who expect accountability?

Are we being distracted from the real issues, or are we complicit in letting theatrics overshadow substance?

(Image: Ping Lacson)