The candidate's top five accomplishments and contributions for the last 15 years or so

From 1971 to 1986, Lacson was part of the Metrocom Intelligence Security Group and was identified by American historian Alfred McCoy as among the operatives who "tortured together for over a decade, forming a tight faction that would rise together within the police after Marcos's downfall."

Lacson denies this and claims that McCoy incorrectly generalized the entire Philippine Military Academy Class of 1971 as complicit in the human rights violations perpetrated during the Marcos regime. He has also said that he was assigned to the police branch of the MISG which was focused on criminality and not the security branch that was assigned to insurgency and other security concerns.

Murder charges have twice been filed against Lacson throughout his law enforcement career: the first was in 1995 over the gunning down of 11 members of Kuratong Baleleng Syndicate and the second in 2010 over the murder of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

Both cases were eventually dismissed by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 81 and the Court of Appeals, respectively. The dismissals were also upheld by the Supreme Court.

Before he was cleared by the CA, Lacson evaded arrest by fleeing the country for over a year. Former intelligence officers Cesar Mancao and Victor Corpus have since apologized for implicating Lacson in the Dacer-Corbito murder case.

As the country's top cop, Lacson sought to expel kotong (bribery or extortion) culture from the Philippine National Police. This was in line with his own "no-take" policy as a member of the police force, refusing rewards from the numerous families of kidnap-for-ransom victims that he rescued and rejecting bribes from gambling groups.

As a senator, Lacson is known as a fierce watchdog against dubious insertions and needless appropriations in the national budget. He has also authored at least 29 laws in the three terms he has served in the Senate including the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 and the Reproductive Health Act of 2011. He co-authored at least three others.

Among the laws he both authored and principally sponsored is the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 which seeks to prevent, prohibit, and penalize terrorism.

Several petitions assailing the constitutionality of the law were filed following its passage on the grounds of broadness, overreach, and vagueness, particularly in its definition of terrorism and acts of terrorism.

Petitioners further alleged that the law violates freedom of expression, association and religion as well as the rights of the accused protected under the 1987 Constitution. Critics of the law fear abuse of the sweeping definitions, the broad powers granted to the Anti-Terror Council and other authorities, as well as provisions allowing prolonged detention for those arrested without a warrant.

On Dec. 9, 2021, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of all but two portions of two provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Lacson has said that the ruling is a win for him and other supporters of the law. Addressing criticism of the measure, he previously vowed dogged oversight over its implementation and said he would join protests on the streets if the law was ever abused.

Two Aeta farmers were the first to be charged under the law for alleged violation of Section 4. They were detained for a year before a court ruled that prosecution evidence was insufficient.