Unlike former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, 1Sambayan convenor ex-Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales sees nothing wrong with Vice President Leni Robredo’s recent meetings with senators linked to the Duterte administration as part of her efforts to unite the opposition.
“In fact, I see Leni’s efforts to be talking to others who have already (made) their intention to run very good because I can see she’s trying to unify the opposition. In other words, like the 1Sambayan, Leni, I think, wants to have one set of candidates to be fielded in the next elections,” she said during a 1Sambayan forum on Wednesday, August 4.
Considering the machinery and money involved, the opposition believes that one set of candidates from their group will have a better chance of winning against the administration’s ticket next year.
READ: Opposition must have a common standard-bearer in 2022 — Robredo
Robredo, likewise, is into the idea of forming a united opposition whether to back her alleged presidential bid or to support another candidate.
Her meeting with Senators Richard Gordon and Panfilo Lacson, as well as the latter’s runningmate for the 2022 polls, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, for “exploratory talks” received the ire of Trillanes, who questioned her agenda for talking with personalities who were enablers of the Duterte administration’s many abuses.
But Carpio-Morales, who is one of the lead convenors of 1Sambayan, said the meeting with Lacson and Sotto “doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s already aligning herself with them.”
READ: Robredo to give way to Lacson?; 'No way' says Trillanes, Magdalo
“So, I’m sorry, Mr. Senator Trillanes, I do not think by talking to Sotto and to Lacson, Leni is already with them. No, she is not,” she added.
In her point of view, Robredo is only trying “to get them to unite with one opposition candidate.”
Lacson and Sotto were supposed to formally announce their bid for the presidency and vice presidency today, August 4, but they opted to delay the announcement because of the two-week lockdown in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Carpio-Morales, who was a former Supreme Court associate justice, said “1Sambayan is happy about this development because it would synchronize with the plan of 1Sambayan to have just one set of candidates to go against the candidates of the president and his allies.”