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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Only Pacquiao missing in today's meeting of the Senate 'Macho bloc'

Only Pacquiao missing in today's meeting of the Senate 'Macho bloc'

Published Feb 22, 2022 02:25 pm

Only Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao is missing when members of the so-called Senate ‘’Macho Bloc’’ met in the Laguna campaign swing

This came after the ‘’Macho Bloc’’ members -Partido Reporma presidential candidate Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson, running mate and Senate President Vicente “Tito” C. Sotto III, and former Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II – reunited for the first time in the campaign for the May 9 elections as they visited Sta. Cruz, Laguna on Tuesday.

Former Senator Gringo Honasan (left) joins presidential candidate Sen. Ping Lacson, Laguna Gov. Ramil Hernandez (middle), and vice presidential candidate Senate President Vicente Sotto III (right) during a campaign sortie in Laguna. Other senatorial candidates of the Lacson-Sotto tandem also joined them.

As a guest candidate for senator under the Lacson-Sotto ticket, Honasan joined his longtime Senate buddies and Partido Reporma senatorial hopefuls Dr. Minguita Padilla, former Philippine National Police (PN) chief General Guillermo Eleazar and former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel “Manny” Pinol in wooing Laguna voters, particularly at the Sta. Cruz public market.

Honasan then spoke to the local voters, made up mostly of small business owners and tricycle operators and drivers, in the socially-distanced town hall meeting with Lacson, Sotto and the Partido Reporma Senate bets at the Tanghalang Cong. Benjie C. Agarao, Jr.

It was the first time after 15 days in the official campaign period for the national elections that Lacson, Sotto and Honasan shared a campaign stage, following their many years together as lawmakers on the Senate floor.

Although a guest candidate of other presidential tickets, Honasan is running as an independent, and in fact was the first independent candidate to win a Senate seat when he ran for the chamber in 1995. He has served a total 21 years as senator, from 1995 to 2004 and from 2007 to 2019.

Honasan, Lacson, Sotto and Senator Manuel 'Lito' Lapid formed the most recent Senate "Macho Bloc,” which has taken many forms through the years, but usually denotes a group of lawmakers with common, strong stances on national issues, sometimes when even in the minority.

Only missing was Pacquiao, an adopted member of the ‘macho bloc,’ who decided to also seek the presidency himself in the 2022 elections.

Lapid, meanwhile, has been quietly helping the Lacson-Sotto campaign team on the ground in support of his longtime Senate buddies.

Related Tags

Tito Sotto Senate gringo honasan Senate macho bloc Lacson-Sotto tandem lito lapid ping lacson Manny Pacquiao
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