SENATOR Panfilo Lacson, eyeing a presidential campaign with Senate President Vicente Sotto III as running mate in the 2022 national elections, shrugged off Vice President Leni Robredo’s decision to thumb down Lacson’s “sure unification formula” to firm up a united front against whoever will finally be named standard bearer of the administration.
“It was a selfless move on my part to offer the unification formula to Vice President Leni Robredo since she was after a united opposition/front in 2022,” Lacson said, adding: “After all, it was her objective for liaising with different forces or candidates including Mayor Isko Moreno, Sen. Manny Pacquiao, Sen. Richard Gordon, among others.”
In a statement, Lacson said: “It goes without saying, I respect her decision to resist my suggestion and whatever reasons she has for declining.”
The senator admitted that while “there could be some complications attendant to my suggestion, nevertheless, it was a sincere and selfless offer in support of her equally sincere efforts to have one common candidate against whoever will be the administration’s bet.”
At the same time, Lacson added that “included in my suggestion was to have Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III as our common VP candidate, if only to emphasize that I have no intention of abandoning my partner,” noting that, “in fact, it was in his presence that I made the offer.”
Lacson likewise recalled that during their meeting, “I could not think of another sure unification formula,” as he reminded that “not filing in October in favor of one common candidate as Vice President Leni (Robredo) would want it will not happen, considering that the campaign won’t even start until February or four months later.” Robredo earlier revealed the “formula” pitched by Lacson: that everyone files a COC in October, and then, as the numbers and strength of each candidate is increasingly seen, for the others to withdraw in favor of the one with realistic chances of winning against the administration bet.
The senator stressed: “That is who I am. Challenge me and I will deal with it with boldness, honesty, sincerity and sensibility. I take serious matters with utmost seriousness. Concepts are easy to deal with. How to concretize and implement is the hardest part.”