Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, August 8, admitted that she rejected Senator Panfilo Lacson’s proposal to unify the opposition by withdrawing one’s Certificate of Candidacy (COC) based on survey results.
The senator earlier revealed that the vice president was not agreeable to his proposal during a meeting along with Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, his vice-presidential running mate.
“Dahil nga dun sa interview ni Senator Ping in public, kinakailangan kong magpaliwanag kung bakit ko ni-resist ‘yung proposal (Because of the interview of Senator Ping in public, I need to explain why I resisted the proposal),” she said on her weekly radio show over dzXL.
Lacson did not reveal the proposal but according to Robredo, the senator proposed for all “opposition” candidates to file their Certificates of Candidacy (COC) for the 2022 polls and then, withdraw their candidacies and support the “best contender based on numbers.”
“Ako kasi ang paniniwala ko ‘pag ang isang kandidato nag-file ng Certificate of Candidacy, piniprisinta na namin ang sarili namin sa publiko. Iyong mga naniniwala sa amin tataya, tataya na sa amin (What I believe in is if a candidate filed a Certificate of Candidacy, we are presenting ourselves to the public. Those who believe in us will make a bet, they will bet on us),” Robredo said of her reason for rejecting the proposal.
READ: Lacson, Sotto won't be part of 'united opposition' in 2022
She believes that once she files for a COC, which the Commission on Elections (Comelec) scheduled to be on the first week of October, she needs to continue on with the battle.
“Kapag nag-file ako, hindi ako pwedeng umatras kahit gaano kahirap kasi pinirisinta ko na iyong sarili ko sa publiko. Iyon ‘yung reason, hindi ako agreeable dun sa proposal (Once I filed, I cannot withdraw even though it’s hard because I already presented myself to the public. That’s the reason, I am not agreeable to the proposal),” Robredo explained.
The vice president doesn’t want candidates to lead on their supporters who thought that they are betting on someone they should believe in.
“Ang gusto ko kung mag-file ako, hanggang sa huli kahit pa gaano kahirap (What I want is if I will file, until the end even though it’s hard),” Robredo said, emphasizing that she doesn’t want to leave in the “middle of the game.”
READ: VP camp: Running for president still Robredo's first option
Even though initial talks with Lacson, the only one who announced his intention to run as president, did not advance, Robredo is not losing hope that the opposition will eventually unite behind one candidate.
Her meeting with Lacson earned the ire of former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and some critics who noted that the Lacson-Sotto tandem is not to be identified with the opposition because they were supportive of President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, Anti-Terror Law, and the “unjust” persecution of Senator Leila de Lima, Robredo’s party-mate in the Liberal Party.