Though the hard-drinking , gun-toting Lacson projected an image of machismo , the author Nick Joaquin observed : In 1953 , Lacson actively campaigned for Nacionalista presidential candidate Ramon Magsaysay , 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 "
plane crash
1957 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash
Arsenio Lacson