BY ASHZEL HACHERO and WENDELL VIGILIA
SEN. Panfilo Lacson yesterday said the prospect of having a “united opposition” in the 2022 general elections is “very slim.”
Lacson’s statement came as Vice President Leni Robredo, in a meeting yesterday of the opposition Liberal Party which she chairs, said she has to exhaust every means to unite all opposition groups before deciding if she will make a presidential run.
Robredo made a similar statement on Sunday, saying she has not given up hope on uniting the opposition for next year’s elections, even after three officials — Lacson, Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao, and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso — have declared their intention to seek the presidency next year. She also said she is aware that she has to decide soon on whether to seek the presidency but will continue to try to forge an alliance with other candidates and groups to form the broadest coalition against the administration.
The filing of certificates of candidacy for next year’s elections is from October 1 to 8.
Lacson, in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, said: “Well, I tried. It’s possible but very slim. Kung meron mang opening ng pinto, napakasikip na ng pagdadaanan (if there’s an opening, it’s too tight) so I don’t know or see the possibility of a unity ticket of the opposition,”
Lacson in August presented Robredo his “unification formula” which involves all non-administration candidates filing their COCs but eventually withdrawing to support a common candidate from the opposition. Robredo has rejected the formula, saying if she files her COC, she will continue the fight.
Robredo on Monday said negotiations have been difficult and she has left her fate to God.
“Sinurrender ko na talaga sa Diyos kasi sa hirap ng… sa hirap ng negotiations, dumadating iyong mga panahon na hindi ko na talaga alam kung ano iyong sunod na gagawin (I surrendered it to God… with the difficulty of negotiations, there were times that I really didn’t know what to do next),” she said in an interview during an event of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.
“While I’m still exerting a lot of effort, sa akin, total surrender na. Ang parati ko nga lang dasal na sana iyong mensahe ng Panginoon maging very clear para hindi rin tayo magkamali sa ating desisyon (To me, it’s total surrender. My only prayers is for the Lord’s message to be very clear so I won’t make a wrong decision).”
SENATORIAL BETS
Lacson, who is running under Partido Reporma, said he and his running mate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, will file their COCs on October 6, the date chosen by Sotto.
Lacson also said the public should wait for October 8 and November 15, the last day for substitution of candidates, “before we can conclude how many are officially running for president and vice president.
On the tandem’s senatorial slate. Lacson said it is “almost firmed up.” He said they are talking with former Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol and broadcast journalist and TV personality Raffy Rulfo while former senator JV Ejercito confirmed to Sotto that he will run under their ticket.
Re-electionist senators Joel Villanueva and Juan Miguel Zubiri are also in the senatorial line-up of the Lacson-Sotto tandem.
On Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Lacson said the former has yet to make up his mind. Reports said Gatchalian is eyeing the vice presidency.
Last July, Sotto said their 10 senatorial bets are Gatchalian, Ejercito, Villanueva, Zubiri, former senator now Sorsogon Gov. Francis Escudero, Sen. Richard Gordon, former senator and now Information Secretary Gringo Honasan, former Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, former senator and now Antique Rep. Loren Legarda, and Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez.
Ejercito, Gatchalian, Escudero and Legarda are Sotto’s NPC party mates.
Larrazabal, in a series of media posts, said he will run for a House seat representing the fourth district of Leyte.
“I made the decision to run for the district after talking with family and friends,” he said adding he has informed Lacson and Sotto of his decision.
LP SLATE
The Liberal Party came up with an initial Senate slate led by re-electionists Francis Pangilinan and Leila de Lima, and former senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aguirre Aquino IV.
The opposition party held a virtual national executive council (NECO) meeting where they nominated the candidates.
The LP also passed a resolution endorsing Akbayan Sen. Risa Hontiveros and lawyer Chel Diokno as part of its initial list of guest senatorial candidates, citing them as “candidates from outside [LP’s] ranks, who are aligned with its principles and values and as such are reliable partners in advancing its program of government.”
The NECO is an annual gathering where members set party goals and directions for the next year.
Robredo, Pangilinan, Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon, Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte and former Reps. Teddy Baguilat and Erin Tañada and several elected officials attended the event.
Though still detained, De Lima also gave the party short message delivered by her chief of staff, Fhillip Sawali.
A resolution was passed granting Robredo full authority and discretion in initiating talks and coming up with agreements, as well as identifying and assembling a united national slate of candidates for president, vice president and senators, “while respecting her preference on the elective position she may decide to run for, if any, with the full support by the party as a whole.”
Robredo’s spokesman Ibarra Gutierrez expressed belief Pacquiao is still open to talks with Robredo after it was reported that he told the 1Sambayan Coalition that he was not closing his doors to possible alliances.
“So this seems to give hopes to VP Leni that it is still possible to form a bigger coalition for 2022. They don’t have to go on separate ways,” he told a radio interview.
Pacquiao leads a faction of the ruling PDP-Laban party.
DUTERTE’S VP RUN
The PDP-Laban Cusi faction said it is mindful of a public opinion against the vice presidential run of President Duterte in 2022 but expressed belief that a recent survey on the issue only provides a snapshot of the public sentiment at a given time.
Faction secretary general Melvin Magtibay said the Social Weather Station survey that showed that 60 percent of the respondents said the vice presidential bid of Duterte is unconstitutional is “incomplete” and only focused on the constitutionality. He said to get a more accurate people’s sentiment, the survey should have also asked “If the Constitution allows President Duterte to run for Vice President, would you vote for him?” — With Gerard Naval and Jocelyn Montemayor
