The tandem of Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday junked another senatorial candidate from their line-up.
Lacson announced that reelectionist Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian is no longer with their team, just like former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista.
“Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and ex-Mayor Herbert Bautista have made their choices of the principles and advocacies that they will embrace moving forward in this political exercise,” Lacson posted in his Twitter account on Thursday.
“Obviously, they are not ours. They now cease to be part of the Lacson-Sotto team,” said the standard bearer of Partido Reporma.
Lacson showed a video clip where Gatchalian openly endorsed the tandem of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio during the party’s proclamation rally at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, and thanked the UniTeam for accepting him.
While joining the UniTeam’s kick-off rally, Gatchalian sent his brother, Valenzuela Rep. Wes Gatchalian, as his representative to the Lacson-Sotto proclamation rally in Imus, Cavite.
According to Lacson, Gatchalian’s move was enough reason to drop him from their Senate slate, as he cited their agreement before the elections.
Gatchalian, for his part, apologized to Lacson and Sotto for any misunderstanding that he may have caused.
“I have worked first hand with Sen. Lacson and SP Sotto and I have nothing but utmost respect and admiration for the two gentlemen. I have seen their dedication to serve our people and their pure love for our beloved country. For this, I respect the decision of their leadership,” stressed Gatchalian.
Sought for comment, Sotto—the chairman of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, which also counts Gatchalian as a member —replied, “Let me put it this way. The list we are endorsing now includes JV, Loren, Chiz, Manny Piñol, Gen Eleazar, Monsour, Dra Padilla, Migz, Joel, Raffy, (and) Gringo.”
Sotto was referring to former Senators JV Ejercito, Loren Legarda and Chiz Escudero, former Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol, former PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, ex-Makati Rep. Monsour del Rosario, health advocate Dr. Minguita Padilla, Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri. Sen. Joel Villanueva, broadcast journalist Raffy Tulfo, and former DICT Sec. Gringo Honasan.
Sotto also said they are still checking on Sen. Richard Gordon and former Vice President Binay if they are still with them.
Gordon attended the proclamation party of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan in Camarines Sur. He merely sent video messages to the kick-off rally of Lacson-Sotto and Sen. Manny Pacquiao and former Environment Secretary Lito Atienza in General Santos City.
Lacson said they dropped Bautista from their Senate ticket for supporting Marcos and Duterte.
According to Lacson, Bautista asked his permission if he can be a representative of the NPC to the UniTeam of Marcos and Duterte. “Papaano ko iyon sasagutin.?” asked Lacson.
Bautista, a member of NPC since 1992, said the decision of Lacson and Sotto to remove him from their slate will now “afford him the opportunity to openly campaign for the BBM-Sara UniTeam.”
Sotto, meanwhile, said Bautista endorsing another vice presidential candidate will not affect his membership in the NPC.
He said majority of his partymates at the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) are supportive of his tandem with the Partido Reporma standard-bearer.
“Majority. I can say definitely majority. We have yet to meet as a whole, but I can give you a good percentage after the meeting that (we’re) setting and this has the blessing of all my backers at the NPC,” Sotto said during a press conference on Thursday.
Sotto said the meeting of the NPC’s 1,538 incumbent officials will take place by next week.
“At the very least about 75 percent, at least 75 percent. I’ll be very blunt about this when I talk to my party mates, my appeal to my party mates, is that either we support the Lacson-Sotto tandem or don’t support any other presidential (bet), the party will not support any other presidential candidate. It’s either Senator Lacson or no one if they won’t support him. That will be my appeal,” he added.
In the same briefing, Lacson said he is not discouraged by his low rankings on presidential surveys.
Lacson said that if Filipinos keep voting for the wrong leaders, they might as well apologize to their children and future generations, who will bear the brunt of the effects of the wrong decisions and policies these leaders will make.
Lacson said he is not discouraged and will not be disheartened no matter how mainstream surveys keep projecting his numbers as low and unchanging because the latest results have yet to factor in the performances of candidates in recent and future debates.
He added that he is keeping a positive outlook regardless of the apparent hype that opinion polls are building around other popular candidates every election period.
The veteran lawmaker expressed that pre-election surveys are not the be-all and end-all, insofar as the presidential race is concerned, because he believes that political debates, which are yet to happen in the middle of the campaign period, can still change the electoral landscape.
“I think the presidential forums and interviews will change things based on the feedback, based on the congratulatory messages that I’ve been receiving; and these surveys, I think, were conducted before those interviews. Because there will be comparison,” Lacson said.
If the numbers won’t change even after the forums, however, the presidential aspirant said he is not going to be bitter about it.
Lacson said he has already prepared himself to face whatever consequences as soon as he made the decision to run for president in the 2022 elections.
Lacson also maintained that he and Sotto, along with the key members of their senatorial slate, would keep their campaigns focused on the most pressing issues faced by the nation by explaining to the public their reform-oriented platforms.
The tandem is pushing advocacies of good governance and fighting corruption through their battle cries “Aayusin ang Gobyerno, Aayusin ang Buhay ng Bawat Pilipino” (Fix the Government, Fix the Lives of Every Filipino) and “Uubusin ang Magnanakaw” (Get Rid of All Thieves).