Partymates in the Partido Reporma on Tuesday said they believe their chairman and standard bearer, Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, would not drop his presidential bid despite being behind in most surveys conducted ahead of the official campaign season for the 2022 national elections.
Meanwhile, Lacson confirmed on Twitter that he was isolating after one of his sons caught COVID. The longtime public servant said he had a sore throat, adding that many of his friends and relatives were saying their household members tested positive as well.
“We likewise disagree with the views of some who say our chairman should quit now that he is lagging in election surveys and give way to another candidate in a bid to unite the so-called opposition,” said Rep. Arnel Ty, the party’s treasurer.
These persons, he said, conveniently forget that their chosen leader “abandoned the party the candidate had belonged to – which, mind you, had supported that candidate for years on end – to run as an independent and form a coalition based on a color different from their old party.”
“This was the same candidate that initially presented Sen. Lacson with a plan to ‘unify’ the opposition but would then not allow our chairman to fulfill the commitments he had already made to his supporters and followers, having been the first to declare his candidacy for President this election season – showing that this was merely a ploy to gain more power for the candidate’s own ends,” also said Ty.
“This candidate would then paint a very different picture of how their talks broke down, on the pretense that the candidate did not want to see votes ‘wasted’ for the opposition,” he added.
Withdrawing from the presidential race, Ty pointed out, is simply against the principles Lacson has stood for throughout his 50-year career in public service – with proven, measurable results as a soldier, police officer, government executive and senator.
Instead of sending innuendoes through the media, whether traditional or social, to our chairman, Ty said they challenge the candidates for the local and national elections to stand on their principles and earn the vote of the Filipino people on May 9, 2022.
“As our chairman has repeatedly stressed since he declared his candidacy on September 8, 2021, his campaign is centered on educating the Filipino voter and pushing the governance reforms that our country badly needs at this time, especially considering the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and our huge economic problems,” he said.
“As most of his supporters and critics alike have noticed over the last three months, Sen. Lacson has conducted principled discussions with the public and private sectors alike through Partido Reporma’s ‘Online Kumustahan’ series of dialogues across the country,” he further stated.
According to Ty, these have been proven effective in communicating Sen. Lacson’s platform of governance, which he hopes to get a chance to execute himself after decades of crafting the laws for our countrymen, with the Filipinos’ mandate of course.
“We believe our countrymen resonate with Partido Reporma’s advocacy for reform in government and society — and will show this has merit by electing Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson as the country’s next President,” also said Ty, who did not identify the candidates peddling rumors that Lacson will withdraw from the presidential race.