BY RAYMOND AFRICA and JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
NATIONALIST People’s Coalition (NPC) chairman Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday said members who choose not to support his vice presidential bid “know what to do,” hinting that they are free to resign from the party.
Sotto made the remark after Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap her husband, Rep. Victor Yap — who are both members of the NPC — on Saturday endorsed the candidacy of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte- Carpio, who is running against the Senate President for the country’s second top elective post.
Sotto is running alongside Sen. Panfilo Lacson, while Duterte-Carpio is the running mate of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Sotto said the support thrown by Tarlac party members to Duterte-Carpio is not an official act of the NPC, adding that the Yaps’ action was against the party’s by-laws as it is only the chairman and council leaders who are allowed “to say who we are supporting.”
“As a matter of fact, if you go through the Viber group of NPC ngayon, everybody is saying that it’s wrong. If you are endorsing a candidate against your chairman hindi talaga matino ‘yun. So siguro they should know what their next step should be. Ganon ang usapan (As a matter of fact, if you go through the Viber group of NPC, everybody is saying that it’s wrong. If you are endorsing a candidate against your chairman, that would be insane. So, maybe they should know what their next step should be. That’s the agreement),” Sotto said in an interview in Cebu.
“The party is supporting and endorsing the chairman who is running for VP. Kung hindi sila maka-suporta sa partido, hindi makasuporta sa chairman, anong tawag sa kanila? Eh ‘di disloyal. They know what to do, malaki na sila (The party is supporting and endorsing the chairman who is running for VP. If they cannot support the party, if they cannot support the chairman, then what do you call them? They are disloyal. They are old enough to know what to do),” he added.
Sotto said the NPC has yet to endorse any presidential candidate since members are still divided on whom to support among the presidential candidates.
“Let me make this clear: the Nationalist People’s Coalition has not endorsed any presidential candidate. While regional and/or provincial chapters may have their preferred list of candidates, such choices do not reflect the NPC as a national coalition of political allies and people’s groups,” Sotto said.
“We have not yet decided on who our presidential candidate would be at the moment. We can say that it is a free zone because there are members of the NPC who are supporting Sen. Lacson, some who are supporting former senator Marcos, VP Leni. There are even some members who would want to support Manny Pacquiao, even Isko Moreno. So, we couldn’t arrive at a consensus,” Sotto said.
In justifying their decision, Rep. Yap said provincial party members are free to support whoever they want.
He said he picked Marcos because of his clear investments, infrastructure, agriculture, social services, digital infrastructure programs, while Gov. Yap said she was grateful to Duterte-Carpio and President Duterte for infrastructure projects in the province.
Gov. Yap said it was her personal decision to endorse Marcos and Duterte-Carpio “and is not reflective of the party.” She added that around 14 mayors in the province are supporting the tandem of Marcos and Duterte-Carpio.
The tandem was likewise endorsed by 20 mayors from vote-rich Bulacan, which the Marcos camp was signified through a manifesto of support signed by Pandi Mayor Chis Castro and Malolos City Mayor Christian Natividad on behalf of the 20 of the 24 Bulacan mayors who are part of the Mayors’ League Bulacan Chapter.
The mayors include Eladio Gonzales of Balagtas, Ferdinand Estrella of Baliuag, Jose Santiago Jr. of Bocaue, Vergel Meneses of Bulakan, Francis Albert Juan of Bustos, Ambrosio Cruz Jr. of Guiguinto, Ricardo Silvestre of Marilao, Mary Ann Marcos of Paombong, Roderick Tiongson of San Miguel, Cipriano Violago Jr. of San Rafael, Leonardo De Leon of Angat, Jessie De Jesus of Calumpit, Raulito Manlapaz of Hagonoy, Edwin Santos of Obando, Anastacia Vistan of Plaridel, Russel Pleyto of Sta. Maria, Linabelle Villarica of Meycauayan City, and Arthur Robes of San Juan del Monte City.
“We collectively believe that Mr. Bongbong Marcos and Mayor Sara Duterte is the tandem our country needs to unite our people and to bounce back as a nation. As local elected officials who are mandated to look after the welfare of our people, we have faith that the UnitTeam will deliver the much-needed support to our localities,” the Marcos camp said, quoting a partion of the manifesto.
On Sunday, Duterte-Carpio and the UniTeam met with artisans and store owners in Bulacan, as well as the Pandi Relocatees and Totoong Paglilingkod Malolos volunteers.
She also led the inauguration of the Malolos UniTeam headquarters and visited the Barasoain Church and Museum.
Duterte-Carpio met with the makers of world class Filipino barong and wedding gowns at the Disenyo Pandi Bagong Barrio and also got fitted for her own Filipiniana by local maker Samantha Adriano of Sam Bridal Boutique, during the visit to Pandi.
Duterte-Carpio said it is important to patronize and support locally made products that are of world-class quality.
In Bustos, Duterte-Carpio thanked her father for supporting her vice presidential bid. The President made the announcement during the rally of the ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) last March 31 in Lapu-Lapu City where he vouched for his daughter’s dedication and hard work in public service.
Duterte-Carpio also attended a meet-and-greet with local and community leaders that was held at the Malamig Resort where she reiterated the “three pillars” of a UniTeam administration under her and Marcos. These three pillars are job-generation, quality education, and peace and order.
She also reiterated that the UniTeam would continue the projects of the Duterte administration, most notably the flagship infrastructure modernization initiative called “Build, Build, Build”.
Meanwhile, Senate majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Saturday night asked the people not to make an issue out of the viral video which showed Marcos not raising the hand of his father, Gov. Jose Zubiri, during the UniTeam’s campaign rally in Bukidnon last March 31.
Zubiri said the video was uploaded on social media sites apparently to create an “adversarial spin, the intention of which is to sow disunity within the UniTeam and our local political party.”
“The truth is it’s just a simple miscommunication between my father and BBM (Marcos Jr.) on the sequence of events, which is that, after BBM speaks, he was supposed to wave the flag and then raise the hand of local parties,” Zubiri said.
