MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson said he will remain friends with the senatorial contenders who were included in his slate but decided to openly endorse his election rivals.
“I understand politics. I’ve stayed in politics long enough. We understand na gusto rin nilang manalo in any way or means that they think would suit them. So we respect their decision. But we also have to respect our own standards. Ganun lang ka-simple yun [It’s that simple],” Lacson said during Thursday’s “Meet the Press” forum.
“One day lang naman yung eleksyon e [The election is only one day], after election, we’ll still be friends—if they want, if they so choose, we will still consider them as our friends,” he added.
Lacson said this after he announced that Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian will no longer be part of the senatorial slate of his tandem with vice presidential candidate Senate President Vicente Sotto III.
Gatchalian is a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), which Sotto chairs.
Asked about the decision to drop Gatchalian from his tandem’s Senate slate, Lacson presented a short video clip showing Gatchalian during the UniTeam proclamation rally on Feb. 8.
In the video, Gatchalian called former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. the president and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio as the vice president.
“We respect their decision. But we also have to respect our own standards. Ganun lang ka-simple yun, [It’s that simple]” Lacson went on.
Earlier, Lacson and Sotto said they are amenable to their senatorial candidates joining the campaign rallies of other presidential and vice presidential contenders as long as they do not openly endorse them.
Gatchalian earlier said he respects the decision to remove him from the slate of the Lacson-Sotto tandem’ and apologized for “any misunderstanding that I may have caused.”
“I have worked first hand with Sen. Lacson and SP Sotto and I have nothing but utmost respect and admiration for the two gentlemen,” Gatchalian said.
Lacson and Sotto also earlier disclosed the removal of former Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista from their slate.
Bautista, also a member of NPC, is now endorsing the tandem of Marcos Jr. and Duterte-Carpio.