Sotto: Up to Comelec to deal with no-show Marcos, Duterte
Vice presidential candidate Vicente Sotto III is leaving it to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to deal with the tandem of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte for skipping the first Comelec-sponsored presidential and vice presidential debates over the weekend.
Of the 10 presidential bets, nine were present during the hours-long presidential debate last Saturday night. Absent was former senator Marcos.
Meanwhile, seven of the nine vice presidential candidates were present Sunday night during the vice presidential debate. The absentees were Davao City Mayor Duterte and Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza.
There were snide remarks from some of the candidates on the decision of the so-called UniTeam tandem to not attend the back-to-back debates.
‘’We leave it to the Comelec. Ayokong namimintas ng mga kapwa (I don’t want to judge my fellowman),’’ the Senate President told media practitioners after the vice presidential debate Sunday, March 20.
Before this, Sotto was asked whether or not he supports calls for tougher penalties against Marcos and Duterte for skipping the televised debate. The latter two are consistent survey leaders.
In the case of Duterte, Sotto said: ‘’Gaya ng sinabi ko kanina 'to each its own'! (As I have said earlier ‘to each his own’). Kanya-kanyang ugali yan (We all have our attitudes). Matalino naman ang mga kababayan natin, siguro sila na ang bahalang humusga (Our countrymen are bright, we leave it to them if they want to judge).’’
Asked about calls that political support for him should be consolidated to defeat Duterte this May, Sotto said: ‘’As I said kanina, I'm speechless (As I said earlier I’m speechless). Siyempre kung gagawin yun eh di magpapasalamat ako at gaya nga ng sinabi ko kanina yung aking karanasan nationwide hindi pang-local ang karanasan natin (If that will happen, I am thankful and as I have said, my experience is on the national level, not local.)
‘’I have prepared for this for the past 30 years. Thirty taon ay handa tayong humarap at hindi natin pagpapraktisan ang opisina ng Pangalawang Pangulo. Hindi tayo mangangapa (I will not be a novice in this job),’’ he added.
Queried whether he thinks it is possible for other candidates to withdraw their support for him, Sotto answered: ‘’You know, it will be very unethical for me to comment. I'm sorry.’’
Although the first presidential debate was incomplete with Marcos's absence, Comelec still thought it was successful.
‘’It is not perfect but successful,’’ Comelec Commissioner George Garcia later said.
‘’We made the invitation and the magnificent nine arrived. How can we even ask for more’?’ he asked.
On Saturday night, March 19, Marcos attended the grand rally of the UniTeam in Marikina City.