Senatorial candidate and former Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista said he has found a “home” in the company of former senator and presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. and vice presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
But Bautista reiterated he did not have ill feelings towards Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Vicente Sotto III’s tandem presidential and vice presidential tandem, which originally took him as part of their senatorial slate for the May 2022 elections.
“I have found a real home,” said Bautista, a mayor of Quezon City for three terms.
“I do thank Senators Lacson and Sotto for just considering me to be part of their senatorial lineup. But I felt more welcome in the Bongbong-Sara team and I feel like this is where I belong,” he said.
The Marcos--Duterte-Carpio tandem earlier formally embraced the candidacy of Bautista and Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian after they were dropped from the senatorial slate of the Lacson-Sotto ticket.
Bautista was removed from the senatorial lineup of the Lacson-Sotto tandem after he attended the proclamation rally of the UniTeam Alliance at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan province on February 8.
“We welcome him with open arms,” Duterte-Carpio said at a campaign rally in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija last Friday.
“We thank the support of Herbert Bautista and senator Sherwin Gatchalian for the Bongbong-Sara tandem,” the presidential daughter said during the campaign sortie.
“I look forward to working with them for Election 2022,” she further said.