PRESIDENTIAL aspirant Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson is changing his slogan to “We have a leader!” as he tweaks his campaign strategy to correct the impression that his May 9 electoral bid is a lost cause because of his low survey rankings.
The new campaign slogan is a shift from the old “We need a leader” shoutout, which Lacson said was coined by Partido Reporma president Pantaleon Alvarez.
The Partido Reporma last week ditched Lacson and crossed political fences to endorse the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo, whom Alvarez said has a higher chance of winning the national elections.
Since the slogan created by Alvarez “is no longer for me,” Lacson said his team decided to tweak it. “We’re going to adopt something like ‘We have a leader.’ Mas maganda hindi ba?
(Does it not sound much better?),” Lacson said in a chance interview in the Senate on Monday afternoon.
Lacson said his campaign team will also make an adjustment in their strategy by trying to correct the notion that votes will just be wasted if people will vote for him due to his low showing in election surveys.
“May adjustments actually, ‘yun ang gusto naming ma-overcome o ma-bridge. Imagine if all those who want to vote for me eh mawawala sa isipan nila na baka hindi (ako) manalo, eh mananalo ako (We will have adjustments actually, because we want to overcome or bridge [that notion]. Imagine if that wrong notion will be erased from their minds, that all those who want to vote for me think that their votes will just be wasted, then I will win),” Lacson said.
He said he will direct his messages to the voters instead of going through political leaders, some of whom are not happy due to his strong stance against the pork barrel system.
“I’m directly banking on voters who will signify their intention to actually vote for me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Sambitory Bubong, Partido Reporma coordinator in Lanao del Sur, has quit the Partido Reporma party to support Lacson.
“I became your member because my ultimate idol (Lacson) became your candidate (and his running mate Senate President Vicente) Tito Sotto. But a lot of people are also aware that your membership grew because my idol became your candidate. My loyalty is with Senator Ping Lacson,” Bubong said in Filipino.
