ONE of the conveners of the anti-Duterte “1Sambayan” coalition yesterday said the group is confident that opposition forces will unite behind one presidential candidate next year and stand against the Duterte administration’s bets.
The group is set to unveil its prospective presidential candidate on Saturday.
Howard Calleja said 1Sambayan is committed to coalition-building and reaching out to all opposition forces.
“People will be surprised. We have the formula, we trust the system, we trust the process that these personalities will unite. In our conversations, personal interests can be set aside towards the bigger interest, that is of the nation and of the people, and that resonated to all candidates we have talked to,” Calleja said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.
He said the group is not an elitist organization as it now has 24 convenors, “including representatives from urban poor, labor, farmers, OFWs, all spectrum.”
“We have to look at it that 1Sambayan is not one party, but a coalition, as broad as maybe in the times of EDSA or even bigger than the coalition at that time,” he added.
He said 1Sambayan is confident it will be able to offer a better alternative to Filipinos.
“We are confident to say that the dream of having one candidate for the opposition in 2022 is more possible now than a year ago,” he said.
Vice President Leni Robredo, chair of the opposition Liberal Party, on Sunday said she is her prioritizing the building of a unified opposition for 2022 over her political plans — whether to run for a national or a local post, or not to run at all.
Aside from Robredo, 1Sambayan has reportedly reached out to Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, Senators Panfilo Lacson and Grace Poe, and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Only Trillanes is vocal about wanting to run as president.
Lacson on Monday said he declined 1Sambayan’s invitation for interview because of recent statement of one of the group’s lead convenors, retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
Lacson noted that said Carpio, in a TV interview in March, said there would be a “stumbling block” if the group would endorse Lacson for president because he pushed for the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 which several convenors are questioning before the Supreme Court.
The other prominent conveners are former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and former Foreign Affairs chief Albert del Rosario.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Duterte may yet decide to run for vice president if his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio, will seek the presidency.
Roque issued the statement after the President said in an interview Tuesday night that he wants to retire after his term in June next year..
Duterte, in an interview with pastor Apollo Quiboloy, said: “Mahirap yan pastor kasi mag-retire na ako and this time, ako ang mamili ng presidente, tapos ‘pag manalo sabihin nila, ano lang yan, perpetuate yourself in power. So nagre-resist ako (That is difficult because I will retire and this time. I will also choose the president and if that person wins they will say perpetuate yourself in power. So I am resisting).”
Duterte also said he again talked to his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, and asked her not to run for president. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
