Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan does not think it is to Vice President Leni Robredo’s best interest to have a vice president other than him, warning of a probable “danger” should she win and he loses in next week’s polls.
Although Robredo trails former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in pre-election surveys—the last one being a 33 percent gap—some political analysts believe she can still pull off a surprise win based on the massive rallies organized for her in the past weeks.
But this power is also largely attributed to the Vice President being teamed up with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio in the southern Philippines, where the Robredo-Sara (RoSa) tandem is being supprted by Mindanao’s political clans.
This is what Pangilinan warned against on Tuesday, May 3, as he reacted to the possibility of Robredo and Duterte winning in the May 9 polls.
“Panawagan ko sa aking mga kapwa pulitiko, ngayon ang panahon na tumaya na. Sabi nga, hwag nang paliko-liko, hinihiling natin kung talagang gusto niyo manalo si VP Leni, at gusto niyong suportahan, e suportahan din po niyo ang tandem (My call to my fellow politicians, this is the time to take a stand. As they say, don’t dilly-dally, we’re asking that if you really want for VP Leni to win and you want to support, support the tandem),” the senator said.
“Dahil malalagay sa panganib si Vice President Leni kung iba ang manalo at baka planuhan siya ng kung anu-ano kung siya po ang maging presidente (Because Vice President Leni will be put in danger if others will win and they may plan whatever if she becomes president),” Pangilinan added.
But he clarified this is only a request to his fellow politicians that if they want to make a stand, they should take a bet on the tandem and “not play a game” anymore.
“Yun ay pakiusap lang naman natin (That’s only a request),” the senator said.
Pangilinan’s Pulse Asia pre-election survey numbers have barely moved, though he now has 16 percent as opposed to his 15 percent in March.
His numbers are catching up to Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III’s 18 percent, though not nearer Duterte-Carpio’s 55 percent.
Despite the discouraging numbers—with Robredo dropping to 23 percent from 24 percent in March while Marcos maintained his 56 percent rating—Pangilinan insisted that they have high hopes for the outcome on Election Day.
Quoting the SWS, another survey firm, the senator stressed that more than 30 percent of Filipino voters decide two weeks before the elections.
With the Pulse Asia survey conducted from April 16 to 21, Pangilinan said plenty of things could’ve changed from three weeks ago.
“So marami na ang maaring bago sa survey na ‘yun. Nakikita naman natin na nag dodoble, nag-ti-triple ‘yung dami ng tao sa ating mga rally (there could be a lot of changes in that survey. We can see that the people in our rallies have doubled, tripled),” he added.