CONVENORS of the 1Sambayan political coalition yesterday said the presidential candidate they will endorse in the 2022 presidential election should exhibit integrity, character, and competence.
Former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said these are among the qualities of the late president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
“There are traits of PNoy that we want to adapt for purposes of determining who we will endorse, namely integrity, character and competence. Competence, that’s also very important but competence without integrity is more dangerous than integrity without competence, so kailangan nating i-balance ang mga traits na iyan,” Carpio-Morales said in yesterday’s 1Sambayan virtual media forum titled “PNoy Up Close and Personal,” a special tribute to the former president on the 40th day of his passing.
Carpio-Morales said winnability is also a factor in their selection of candidates.
“Of course, winnability and the likelihood of the chosen one to go out and campaign on the platform we adopt,” she added.
The opposition has not chosen its standard bearer for 2022 and is waiting for Vice President Leni Robredo, chairman of the Liberal Party once led by Aquino, to make a decision.
Robredo has said her priority is uniting the opposition but has not ruled out a presidential run.
Only Sen. Panfilo Lacson has confirmed he is running for president next year, with Senate President Vicente Sotto III as vice presidential bet.
1Sambayan is still in the process of accepting nominations for presidential and vice presidential bets.
Last week, convenor former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said the coalition’s prospective presidential and vice presidential candidates will undergo scrutiny of their platform of government, views and track record.
Carpio said 1Sambayan aims to announce its candidates by September or a month before the filing of certificates of candidacy.
Senator Ralph Recto declined the coalition’s nomination last June while Manila Mayor Isko Moreno asked that his name be remove from the list. Carpio said discussions with Recto’s camp are still ongoing while Moreno can always came back.
The other coalition nominees are Robredo, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, Sen. Grace Poe, human rights lawyer Jose Manuel Diokno and CIBAC party-list Rep. Eddie Villanueva.
Robredo and Trillanes did not decline the nomination.
TALKS
Another 1Sambayan convenor, Fr. Bert Alejo, said they will invite Robredo and ask her about talks she held with other potential presidential candidates like Lacson and Sen. Richard Gordon.
“Ang maganda dito, si Vice President Leni sana ay humarap na sa 1Sambayan convenors para marinig din natin ang interpretasyon sa kung ano’ng ginagawa niya. Siguro next week, magkakaroon ng panahon si VP Leni na humarap sa convenors group (It is good if the Vice President Leni will face the 1Sambayan convenors so that we will also hear her interpretation of what she is doing in recent days. Hopefully, next week, VP Leni will have the time to face the convenors group),” Alejo said in yesteday’s TAPATan 1Sambayan online media forum.
Alejo said the interview is part of the selection process for the coalition’s presidential and vice presidential bets.
Only Trillanes has met with the convenors.
Alejo said they intend to talk to both of Robredo and Trillanes about any misunderstanding caused by Trillanes statements opposing Robredo’s exploratory talks with Lacson and Gordon.
Carpio-Morales said she sees nothing wrong with Robredo’s efforts to talk with other potential presidential candidates.
“I’m sorry Mr.Senator Trillanes, I do not think that by talking to Sotto and Lacson, VP Leni is already waltzing with them. No, she is not, from my point of view,” Carpio-Morales said.
Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon, LP vice chairman, on Tuesday rejected Trillanes’ assumption that Robredo has dropped her presidential candidacy when she talked with Lacson.
Former Presidential Peace Adviser Teresita “Ging” Deles said 1Sambayan is also looking at someone who can and will pursue transparency and accountability in governance.
Deles, who was instrumental in forging the peace talk with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front under the Aquino administration, also said the candidate must “respect public institutions” and the principle of “check and balance” in government.
“Yan yung mga kailangan at hinahanap ngayon lalo na nasa pinakamataas na krisis tayo ngayon (That’s what we are looking for especially since we are in this great crisis),” she said, apparently referring to the COVID-19 pandemic.
HOPEFULS
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said he will run for vice president if he will be the running mate of presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Gatchalian, who belongs to the Nationalist People’s Coalition of which Sotto is chairman, said he has discussed his political plans with Duterte-Carpio
in a meeting set by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
“I talked to Mayor Sara a few months back and we talked about my plans in the Senate, and her party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago, invited me to her Senate slate during that time.
Speaker Lord was the emissary who invited me to be part of the Senate slate. And when we had that conversation, I also opened the possibility of running for VP under her party,” Gatchalian said In an interview with ANC.
He clarified that he will only run as vice president on the condition that if he would be picked by Duterte-Carpio as her running mate, otherwise he will drop his plan of seeking higher office.
Gatchalian is still eligible for another Senate run next year.
Gatchalian said he has also discussed the matter with Sotto, who is also running as vice president in next year’s elections together with Sen. Panfilo Lacson as president.
“We’re talking, everything right now is fluid, although that is my intention. My mind is open to that,” he said, adding that he and Sotto have agreed to keep their communication lines open.
“Rest assured, we will not have any conflict. Being party mates and as a person who respects him, we will not have any conflict. We’ll keep our communication lines open. In fact, we’ve talked about this. Our talk was quite fatherly, and we agreed to talk more often, especially in the coming elections,” Gatchalian said.
Sotto said he is determined to run as vice president next year since he said he has the unanimous support of his party mates during their meeting last July 28.
He said he will also not change his mind even as Gatchalian will also seek the same post next year.
Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he has not made up his mind about seeking a national post in next year’s general elections even if results of an earlier popularity survey placed him among the top three early favorites.
Marcos, who lost to Robredo in 2016, said he does not put much weight on poll surveys, saying they are only indicative of public awareness at best and does not reflect the reality of voter’s preference.
“Wala pa yan. Marami pang mangyayari mula ngayon hanggang sa filing sa October. Dapat pag-aralan muna nating mabuti. Hindi pa natin alam kung sino ang mga magiging kandidato,” he said.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he has rejected calls for him to run for an elective position because politics is complicated.
“I am not, I am not,” Lorenzana said during an interview with an online news organization when asked if he going to run for any position next year.
Lorenzana, a former Army general who occupied the top defense portfolio at the start of the term of President Duterte in June 2016, said some people are trying to convince to run.
Lorenzana said he plans to retire from government service at the end of the Duterte administration. — With Raymond Africa, Peter Tabingo and Victor Reyes
