SEN. Sherwin T. Gatchalian has been dropped from the senatorial ticket of Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III after he allegedly endorsed the presidential and vice presidential campaigns of rival candidates.
Lacson and Sotto are respectively running for president and vice president in the May 9 synchronized national and local elections.
In a hybrid press conference, Lacson said Gatchalian, who is seeking re-election, was caught on a video clip endorsing the candidacies of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio during the proclamation rally of the UniTeam last Tuesday at the Philippine Arena.
Lacson played a 20-second video showing Gatchalian’s act, where the latter said: “Sa UniTeam sa pangununga po ng ating pangulo, ang pangulong Ferdinand ‘BBM’ Marcos at ang ating bise presidente Inday Sara Duterte — maraming maraming salamat sa inyong pagtanggap sa akin (To the UniTeam under the leadership of our president, president Ferdinand ‘BBM’ Marcos and our vice president, Inday Sara Duterte — thank you very much for accepting me).”
Gatchalian is a member of the political party Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), which is chaired by Sotto.
The beleaguered senator said he respects the decision of Lacson and Sotto.
“I have worked first hand with Sen. Lacson and SP (Senate President) Sotto and I have nothing but utmost respect and admiration for the two gentlemen. I have seen their dedication to serve our people and their pure love for our beloved country. For this, I respect the decision of their leadership. I also apologize for any misunderstanding that I may have caused,” Gatchalian said.
Lacson said that while he and Sotto have heard reports that Gatchalian endorsed Marcos and Duterte-Carpio during that proclamation rally, they wanted to first verify the information before making a decision, and thus, he ordered his staff members to get a copy of the event’s video.
“The video says it all. Ang usapan namin the night before the proclamation rally… may commitment na hindi sila mag-e-endorse doon at mananatili ang support sa Lacson-Sotto, at least si Sen. Gatchalian being an NPC (The video says it all. Our agreement before the night of the proclamation rallies, they have committed that they will endorse any candidate and will maintain support for Lacson-Sotto, at least Sen. Gatchalian being a member of NPC),” Lacson said.
“I understand him. I have been in politics for 18 years. We can understand na gusto rin nila manalo (that they want to win) in any means that suits them, but we also have to respect our standards… We respect their decision, but they should respect our decision,” he added.
He stressed: “Hindi kami magbabago ng agreement. Kung ano sa simula ‘yun ang mananatili. I don’t care if they don’t vote for us as long as they don’t endorse other candidates. Kapag and main script ay pinalitan mo, wala nang maniniwala sayo (Our agreement will not change. Whatever we started will remain as such. I don’t care if they don’t vote for us as long as they don’t endorse other candidates…[Because] if I change the main script, no one will ever believe in me).”
Sotto said he will meet with the NPC to determine the party’s next move against Gatchalian.
