TAGUM CITY – A turnaround happened here Thursday, March 24, in favor of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo.
In an unexpected turn of events, former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, president of the newly-revived Partido ng Demokratikong Reporma (Partido
Reporma), declared the shift of the party's support from Lacson to Robredo.
This came few hours after presidential candidate Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, who was the party's standard bearer until Thursday, resigned as the party's chairman.
During his press conference Thursday morning, Lacson revealed he will carry on as an independent candidate, in view of the party's decision to support another presidential candidate that later turned out to be Robredo.
This was confirmed when Robredo was formally endorsed by Alvarez during her visit in Davao del Norte to meet Governor Edwin Jubahib and officials of One Davao del Norte on Thursday afternoon.
"We resonably believe that the only realistic option at this point, with roughly a month and a half left, is to converge with Leni Robredo's campaign," Alvarez said during the press conference held at the Davao del Norte Provincial Capitol.
'Personal decision'
Alvarez, who was a staunch ally of President Duterte and was once a critic of Robredo, said the decision to shift to Robredo's bid is a "personal decision" and a collective decision of the local leaders in Davao del Norte.
"Personal decision kasi 'yan, e. Hindi po madali yung decision na yun (It is a personal decision. It is not an easy decision to make)," Alvarez said.
"Nag-usap usap po kami lahat ng mayors at mga leaders namin dito sa probinsya at yun napagkasunduan namin na susuportahan namin ang kandidatura ni (We discussed this with the mayors and provincial leaders and we came up with an agreement to support the candidacy of) Vice President Leni Robredo," he added.
Broke it through text
Alvarez, who is the current Congressman of Davao del Norte's 1st District, bared that he broke the news to Lacson not in person but through text message.
"Hindi kami nakapag-usap ni Senator Ping nang personal pero through text messages nag-communicate po kami (Senator Ping and I were not able to communicate in person but we communicated through text messages)," the lawmaker revealed.
After making the shift himself, he said he won't convince Lacson to do the same.
"Ako naman ayoko personally na kumbinsihin si Senator Ping at siguro mas maganda kung hayaan natin siya na magdesisyon kung ano talaga ang para sa bayan na mas maganda (I don't personally want to convince Senator Ping and it's better to leave it up to him on what he thinks is best for the country)," Alvarez said.
'A fight I want to continue'
When Alvarez said supporting Robredo's candidacy is a personal decision, he was referring to his desire to continue the fight he once participated in--the fight against the reign of the Marcoses.
"Bakit nakapagpasya akong sumuporta kay Leni Robredo (Why did I decide to support Leni Robredo)?"
"Nasa Ateneo Law school ako nun at naalala ko pa, sumasama kami sa mga martsa doon sa kalye para tuldukan ang rehimeng diktaturyang Marcos. Yun ang unang laban (I was still in Ateneo Law school and I remember, I was joining the rallies on the streets to call for the end of the regime of Marcos' dictatorship," Alvarez said.
"Ngayon, pangalawang laban, kaya lang pareho pa rin. Ayoko naman na yung pinaglaban ko noon ay hindi ko na ipagpalaban ngayon. Para sa akin, gusto ko lang ituloy yung unang laban na sinalihan ko, itutuloy ko sa pangalawang laban na ito--Marcos vs Robredo (Now, we're on the second fight, but it's actually the same. I don't want to stop fighting for what I have fought for in the past. For me, I want to continue this fight between Marcos and Robredo)," he went on.