Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III will file their certificates of candidacy on October 6.
Lacson said it was Sotto who decided on the day of the filing.
“For me, I always respect such hunches or whatever basis for timing the event. That’s Tito Sen’s call,” he said.
Lacson and Sotto, both 73, are running on a platform of KKK – katapangan (courage), kakayahan (ability) and katapatan (integrity).
Meanwhile, Partido Reporma spokesperson Ashley Acedillo questioned a mobile survey that left out Lacson’s name.
“The survey would ask respondents to choose from a field of seven names, excluding Ping Lacson. If the respondent chose Lacson, he or she would get an error message claiming that the reply is invalid,” Acedillo said.
“While we may not know who ‘commissioned’ this supposed survey until the organizers come out with the result, the effect is on the respondents who will be conditioned to think that Sen. Lacson is not running,” he added.
Lacson and Sotto were the first to officially declare their intention to run as a tandem in the May 2022 elections.
“If this latest caper is designed to derail us by dissuading people from supporting Ping Lacson for the presidency, then it is the people who commissioned the survey who are fooling themselves with the erroneous data and results they will obtain. So go ahead, knock yourselves out,” Acedillo said.