SEN. Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday said guest senatorial candidates who would publicly endorse the candidacies of their rivals in the May 9 national elections would be dropped from their senatorial ticket.
Lacson and Sotto have teamed up and are respectively running for president and vice president in this year’s simultaneous national and local polls. Lacson heads the Partido Reporma party, while Sotto is the chairman of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).
The two senators, in a press conference before held a campaign rally at the Quezon Memorial Circle, said they are not preventing their guest candidates from attending the campaign activities of other teams which are also backing their senatorial bids.
Lacson said: “Basta ang usapan hindi sila mag-e-endorse, kasi ‘yun na ang bastusan (As long as they do not endorse [the candidacies of our rivals], otherwise that will already be ill-mannered),” Lacson said.
“Gusto nila manalo, gusto rin namin sila manalo. Pero huwag naman sila mag-kampanya sa ibang kandidato kasi kung ganun, hindi na namin sila gusto manalo (They want to win, and we also want them to win. But they should not campaign for our opponents. If that’s the case, then we do not want them to win anymore),” he added.
Sotto said: “Common sense — we endorse you, pero kung mag endorse ka ng iba, ibang usapan na ‘yun. Kung tumindig ka sa ibang entablado, okay lang ‘yun (That’s common sense — we endorse you, but if you endorse others, that will be another thing. If you appear in someone else’s stage, that’s okay with us).”
The remarks came after Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri (Independent) and Sherwin Gatchalian (NPC) attended the proclamation rally of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who are running as president and vice president of the UniTeam, at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan; and Sen. Richard Gordon, the campaign kick-off of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis Pangilinan in Naga City on Tuesday, the official start of the campaign period for national candidates.
Zubiri, Gatchalian and Gordon are guest candidates of the Lacson-Sotto tandem, along with Sen. Joel Villanueva, former senators Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero (who are all NPC members), former senator Gregorio Honasan, ex-vice president Jejomar Binay, former agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol and broadcaster Raffy Tulfo.
The Lacson-Sotto tandem only has three senatorial bets under Lacson’s Partido Reporma.
They are former PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar, former Makati City Rep. Monsour dela Rosario, and Dra. Minguita Padilla.
Both Lacson and Sotto said they have dropped former Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista, an NPC member, from their senatorial line-up on the request of the latter.
“Si Herbet sumulat sa aming dalawa. Nagpaalam kung puwede siya ang representative ng NPC sa Uniteam (Herbert [Bautista] wrote us a letter and asked if he can be NPC’s representative in the Uniteam [of Marcos and Duterte-Carpio]),” Lacson said.
Sotto confirmed that Bautista consulted with him.
Sotto said Zubiri and Gatchalian informed him that they will attend the proclamation rally of the UniTean.
“Ang usapan naming ay as long as they do not endorse other candidates…Taasan ng kamay iba ‘yun sa sinabi na ine-endorse niya. I was assured by Migz and Win na ang support nila ay sa amin pa rin (Our agreement was as long as they do not endorse other candidates…When they raise the hands of our opponents, that will be a different thing already. But I was assured by Migz and Win that their support are with us),” Sotto said.
A day after their kick-off rally in Imus, Cavite, Lacson and Sotto brought had a campaign sortie in Quezon City on Wednesday to woo the city’s more than 1.2 million registered voters.
They paid a courtesy call on Mayor Joy Belmonte at the Quezon City Hall before their campaign sortie at the Quezon Memorial Circle which was attended by more than 2,500 people.
Sotto said he and Lacson had a fruitful talk with Belmonte who, along with his son and Vice Mayor Gian Sotto, supports their candidacies.
“They are supporting us,” Sotto said adding that it is a plus factor to gain the support of a local executive like Belmonte since Quezon City has 1.2 million registered voters who can help them win.
After meeting with Belmonte, Lacson and Sotto proceeded to the Quezon Memorial Circle along with Ejercito, Eleazar, Del Rosario, Padilla, and Pinol. Other guest candidates delivered their speeches through video messages.
Vice Mayor Sotto, who was present in the campaign rally, said he and Belmonte are supporting Lacson and Sotto because they believe that the lives of the Filipino people can be improved by getting rid of corruption in government.
“We are supporting Lacson and Sotto because we believe that they can address poverty and stop corruption. Their two-point agenda is very simple improve the lives of every Filipino and get rid of crooks in government,” the local executive of Quezon City said.
To liven up the campaign rally, Vic Sotto, the Senate President’s younger brother, appeared to show support to Lacson and Sotto. He likewise attended the tandem’s proclamation rally in Cavite on Tuesday.
