Malacanang said the opposition coalition 1Sambayan might face a steep uphill climb in the forthcoming 2022 national elections after several of its nominees declined to run for president and vice president.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque also wished the opposition party “good luck” since the majority of its nominees declined the offer of the 1Sambayan to be its standard-bearer.
“Only two are possible takers and they are VP Leni Robredo and former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV,” Roque said in a television interview.
“So, I wish them the best of luck, but it seems the 1Sambayanan may find difficulty advancing its cause since the majority of the nominees rejected the nomination,” he said.
Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio last week released a list of nominees for president and vice president in next year’s elections that included Robredo, Trillanes, Senator Grace Poe, Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, CIBAC party-list Rep. Eddie Villanueva, and lawyer Chel Diokno.
However, Poe, human rights lawyer Diokno, Santos-Recto, Villanueva declined the coalition’s support and nomination for 2022.
The 1Sambayan is now left with Robredo and Trillanes as its nominees who are both behind in the several poll surveys.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has topped the latest opinion poll on preferred presidential candidates for an election next year followed by former senator Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos.
In third is Poe, who ran against Duterte in the 2016 election, and Manila city mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso, Senator Manny Pacquiao.
Trailing behind are Robredo, a former human rights lawyer who leads the main opposition, and Trillanes.
In related developments, Duterte-Carpio on Monday told Robredo to refrain from "giving advice if she knows nothing about what is happening on the ground" after the latter pointed out that the President's hometown had an "alarming" number of COVID-19 cases.
Duterte's daughter said Robredo should "avoid involving the COVID-19 surge in Davao City in her attempt at politicking."
"This has been the hallmark of her term as VP, where she puts forth comments on matters and affairs she lacks understanding and knowledge on and does not offer anything helpful to solve a problem," Duterte-Carpio said in a statement.
"There will be a proper time to attack my performance as an LCE (local chief executive) in this pandemic if she dares to run for President."
Also, the Philippine National Police on Monday said it would work with other government agencies against possible cashless vote-buying schemes ahead of next year's elections.
“It's not impossible for this to happen because cashless transactions have become common especially now amid the pandemic. People who plan to persuade the public to sell their vote can really think of this scheme,” PNP chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said in a statement.
He said the PNP would start reaching out to concerned agencies, including the Commission on Elections (Comelec) so that mechanisms will be put up to counter vote-buying via electronic money transfer services or online banking.
“We will develop a mechanism in this regard. But it would be a great help if we ourselves report such activities to the authorities,” said Eleazar.
Robredo, in her weekly radio show, said Davao City could learn from Cebu City which has managed its COVID-19 surge.
Aside from Davao City, Robredo also mentioned the cities of Bacolod City, Dumaguete, Tacloban, Iloilo, and Butuan as those with increasing numbers of coronavirus infections.
Duterte-Carpio, meantime, said Robredo "should not attack the medical community of Davao City as being inactive when they have been silently suffering and working tirelessly to help save lives since March of last year."
"She should open her eyes to the surge of cases in localities all around the world and she might be able to say that a surge in cases where 85% of the cases are asymptomatic is primarily identified by aggressive testing, coupled with tracing and isolation/quarantining," she said.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who is eyeing to run for Vice President, on Monday said an excellent track record and political experience were among the yardstick that the voting population should use when choosing the country’s top two leaders in next year’s elections.
He said the aspirants for President and Vice President should be capable of resolving the many problems of the country and “they should also be ready to submit a report card to the public."
Stressing that running the country was not a learning experience, Sotto noted those who would vie for the presidency and vice presidency must have a program on how to address the country’s crucial problems.
The Senate leader said the Filipino people could not afford to take a risk in their next leaders, especially during this time when the COVID-19 continued to be a health challenge and its impacts a major economic setback.
“It can't be Take 2. When you won the election, it's the only time you would think of what to do. it's the only time you will study. You should be ready upon assumption. These are not government positions wherein you would just study upon assumption," Sotto said.
He said he would make his next political step after completing consultations with various sectors including but not limited to, political veterans, party mates, consumer groups, and retired members of the military and police.
Meanwhile, Poe thanked the 1Sambayan Coalition for continuously trusting her following nomination for president and vice president.
"But I have no plan of running for President in the coming elections," said Poe, adding she merely wanted to focus on getting our people out of this pandemic.
Sought for comment on Jesus Is Lord founder Brother Eddie Villanueva as among the top candidates of 1Sambayan, Sen. Joel Villanueva said he could not speak for his father.
“But obviously we are not interested to embark on a journey to the Presidency especially after the tragedy that the family has gone through the past year,” he said.
The senator’s mother Dory Villanueva and sister Joni Villanueva-Tugna, the mayor of Bocaue in Bulacan, died less than two months apart late last year.
Santos-Recto said she sincerely thanked 1Sambayan for considering her, but she said "I am focused in assisting Lipa city in its vaccination program and in providing assistance to families who need it most.
Furthermore, I have my legislative duties to attend to," she said.
Trillanes himself said those running for president should now declare their plans and prepare for the position as the Philippines was riddled with problems especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trillanes, who lost his vice presidential bid in 2016, had expressed his intention to run as president as early as May.
Eleazar also urged voters not to engage in this kind of activity and report any information on this form of electoral fraud.
Vote-buying and vote-selling are violations under Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code.
“I urge the public to be vigilant and report to authorities if they have information on vote-buying done through online platforms. Help us keep the elections clean and orderly,” he said.
Earlier, Eleazar directed the police to work closely with the military in preventing communist terrorists from collecting “permit-to-campaign” fees from politicians with less than a year left before the elections.
This, after the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would coordinate with the PNP and local government units to stop the illegal activities of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing New People’s Army (NPA).
Eleazar also warned politicians planning to run in the 2022 elections against giving “permit-to-campaign” fees to the CPP-NPA as this would only contribute to the communist rebels’ illegal activities.
He said the money collected by the communist rebels would definitely be used in the purchase of more firearms and other logistics to sustain the CPP-NPA’s senseless and pointless “armed struggle".
Eleazar added that giving in to the communist rebels’ demand for money would only embolden them to continue their extortion activities.