Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto said on Tuesday, March 22, that his refusal to endorse any national candidate in the upcoming elections is driven by a commitment to fight against a system or culture of patronage politics in the city.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Sotto said this “extreme” decision was based on the history of unjust governance and malpractice in the city, which compelled him to run for mayor in 2019.

“Ang Pasigueño, nanawa na kami sa dikta, sa pananakot, masyado napopolitika lahat ng bagay. We’re coming from that history. We want to make a stand that Pasig is open. Ang mayor ngayon hindi magdidikta sa inyo...We are moving away from a culture of patronage, fear, and traditional politics (We are tired of being dictated upon, being coerced through fear, and how everything became political. We’re coming from that history. We want to make a stand that Pasig is open. The mayor now will not dictate upon you...We are moving away from a culture of patronage, fear, and traditional politics),” Sotto said.

Sotto remarked on how mayors or barangay captains cannot truly deliver votes to certain candidates, and that many of those successful instances come from mere luck.

He stressed that citizens “can stand on their own and think for themselves” in regards to their votes for the elections.

“Hindi na kailangan ng mayor na magsasabi ng ‘dapat dito tayo lahat’. Kung ako magsabi, ‘oh, candidate A tayo’, hindi naman ibig sabihin susunod lahat ng Pasigueno (A mayor doesn’t need to say what and who we should be aligned with. If I say ‘let’s pick candidate A’, it doesn’t mean that every citizen will follow),” Sotto said.

The mayor has consistently said that he will focus on local matters, particularly in reforming and cleansing the local government, rather than involving himself in national politics.