Ping Lacson visits Cebu, meets with Gov. Gwen Garcia

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson (right) poses for a photo with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez at the Cebu capitol on Friday, Sept.17. (DALE ISRAEL/INQUIRER VISAYAS

CEBU CITY—Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Friday visited Cebu province, barely a week after declaring his intent to run for president in 2022.

Lacson, accompanied by former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, met with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia at the Capitol to “exchange pleasantries.”

Lacson’s running mate, Senate President Tito Sotto, was not around during the meeting around 12:30 p.m. Friday.

After the meeting with Garcia, Lacson declined an interview with the local media, saying he was in “a hurry to attend the Blue Ribbon Committee meeting.”

Garcia, in an interview, said they did not talk about politics with Lacson, who served as chief of the Cebu police several years ago.

The governor said Lacson did not specifically ask for support for the 2022 polls since it was not “his nature” to immediately ask for support.

Garcia said her local party, One Cebu, had already announced that they are not yet aligning with national candidates as of this time.

She said they were still focusing on the strengthening of their local lineups for the One Cebu party.

“Right now, the situation seems very fluid in the national scene, and we will only decide well after Nov. 15. Even though the deadline for the filing for the Certificates of Candidacies is on the 8th of October, you have until the 15th of November for substitution,” Garcia explained.

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