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MANILA, Philippines — Former senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday denied speculations that his presidential bid announcement could divide the opposition instead of uniting it in the upcoming elections.
Trillanes stressed that he will step aside should Vice President Leni Robredo “definitively decide” to gun for the presidency.
“It’s very clear in my statement that I’m willing to step aside, the moment, Vice President Leni Robredo definitively decides to run for president. And I don’t see how you would be able to spin that as dividing the opposition,” Trillanes said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
On Wednesday, Trillanes formally declared his intention to run for president in the 2022 elections by conveying to the 1SAMBAYAN coalition to change his status from being an alternate candidate to Robredo to being a principal presidential candidate and vie for the Coalition’s nomination.
This was “in view of VP Leni’s preparations to run for governor of Camarines Sur in 2022”, Trillanes said in his statement.
However, Robredo’s spokesperson, Barry Gutierrez, said the Vice President has yet to come up with a firm decision on her possible political plans for the 2022 elections.
In his ANC interview, Trillanes clarified that his announcement of intention to run for the presidential elections was not meant to “pressure” Robredo into taking the challenge of running to become the next chief executive of the country.