FILE PHOTO: Herbert Bautista. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Former Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista is no longer a part of the Lacson-Sotto tandem’s senatorial slate.
Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III confirmed this matter to reporters on Wednesday in a press conference ahead of their campaign rally at the Quezon Memorial Circle.
According to Lacson, Bautista wrote him a letter asking for permission to be the representative of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) to the UniTeam, a political coalition supporting the candidacies of another presidential and vice-presidential tandem, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte-Carpio.
The NPC is chaired by Sotto while Lacson chairs Partido Reporma.
“Hindi ko maintindihan kung papaano ko sasagutin. Ang sabi niya, nagpapaalam siya kung siya na ‘yung pwedeng NPC representative sa UniTeam, papaano mo sasagutin yon?” Lacson said of Bautista’s letter.
(I don’t know how to respond to it. He was asking permission to be the NPC representative to UniTeam, how will you answer that?)
“So sinabi ko kay SP (Senate President), hindi ako concern dito, hindi naman ako sa NPC, pero itong sulat niya hindi ko rin maintindihan, tinanong ko lahat ng staff ko papaano ko sasagutin ito? Walang makasagot,” he added.
(So I conferred with SP because this is not my concern since I’m not a member of NPC, but his letter to me was hard to understand, I asked my staff to think of a response, but no one could.)
Asked if Bautista is officially off the senatorial slate of Lacson and Sotto, the two senators said: “Wala na.”
No open endorsement
On Tuesday, Lacson and Sotto officially launched their 2022 campaign in Imus, Cavite.
READ: Lacson-Sotto tandem sets 2022 campaign in motion from Cavite
While some of their senatorial bets joined them in their proclamation rally, reelectionist Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Juan Miguel Zubiri did not and only sent their representatives to the event.
Zubiri was represented by his wife while Gatchalian was represented by his brother, House Deputy Speaker Wes Gatchalian.
But both Zubiri and Gatchalian were personally present in the proclamation rally of Marcos Jr. and Duterte-Carpio at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan. In a photo posted on Gatchalian’s Twitter page, Bautista was seen seated next to the reelectionist senators at the Philippine Arena.
Sa inyong suporta, babangon tayo. Sa ating pagkakaisa, hindi tayo magpapatalo. Maraming salamat po sa inyong tiwala. #WINTayongLahat pic.twitter.com/gv2EunWpM3
— Win Gatchalian (@WinGatchalian74) February 8, 2022
According to Lacson and Sotto, they agreed to allow members of their senatorial slate to join other candidates in their activities so long as they do not openly endorse their presidential and vice-presidential rivals.
“Ang usapan namin, basta hindi sila openly mag-endorse, kasi yun ang tawagin na nating bastusan [What we discussed is they should not openly endorse our fellow candidates, because that would be rude,” Lacson said.
“’Di ba commonsensical? If you’re endorsing other candidates, we will no longer endorse you. Pero kung tumindig ka sa ibang entablado, magsalita ka, pinuri mo ang sarili mo…as long as they are promoting themselves, ganun talaga,” Sotto, for his part, added.
(Isn’t it commonsensical? If you’re endorsing other candidates, we will no longer endorse you. But if you take the stage of another campaign rally, speak and promote yourself that’s fine, as long as they are promoting themselves, that’s just the way it goes.)
Meanwhile, reelectionist Senator Richard Gordon, who is also included in the Lacson-Sotto tandem’s senatorial list joined the proclamation rally of presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo in Naga City on Tuesday.
According to Lacson, they plan to talk to Gordon as soon as possible.
“There were reports, we have not validated it because meron lang nag-inform sa amin si [we were informed that] Sen. Gordon, openly endorsed other candidates so we’re validating it,” Lacson said.
“Kasi pinagbigyan namin, nagpadala ng . Pero if he indeed endorsed another team, another tandem, well, we’ll have to validate it muna kasi mahirap umasa sa report lang na hindi validated pero kakausapin namin siya kung ano talaga ‘yung nasa loob niya,” he added.
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