Presidential aspirant Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.
Partido Reporma lost its key officials in Bohol province as they chose to stand by now-independent presidential aspirant Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.
This was after the party shifted its support to Vice President Leni Robredo.
The pro-Lacson group filed their irrevocable resignations from the party Saturday, even as they reiterated their “strong and continued commitment and unequivocal support” to Lacson’s candidacy.
“From the very beginning, the support that we throw behind SENATOR LACSON was born out of pure volunteerism and not for any other personal considerations. We agreed among ourselves to voluntarily offer our time, money and effort in support of him because we believe that he is the only candidate who has the competence, experience, courage and strength to address the very serious crisis that our country is facing today due to the COVID-19 pandemic, corruption, unemployment, ballooning debt and bullying by China in our exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea,” they said in their manifesto.
Signing the statement were Jagna Mayor Joseph Rañola and former provincial police chief Edgardo Ingking, who acted as the party’s co-chairmen in Bohol.
Also among the signatories were Joseph Sevilla, Eduardo Aranay, and Emmanuel Solomon Duites, coordinators for the first, second and third districts, respectively.
In their manifesto dated March 26, the five said they chose to support Lacson as they “believe that we need a leader like him who has a clear vision on what he wants to do for our country and people and a clear plan based on science and hard data on how to accomplish it.”
“As a public servant who is proven to be incorruptible and one who leads by example, we need a leader like SENATOR LACSON who can tame the bureaucracy in embracing Good Governance and restore the full trust of the Filipino people back to the government,” they added.
It was the latest show of continued support for Lacson, as Reporma senatorial bets Minguita Padilla and Guillermo Eleazar continue to support his presidential bid. Reporma founder and chairman emeritus Renato de Villa also expressed support for Lacson.
Last March 24, Lacson announced his resignation from Reporma after some of its officials decided to endorse another candidate, who turned out to be Robredo.
On March 25, Lacson disclosed that campaign expenses amounting to P800 million was the reason for Reporma’s switch to another bet.
On Saturday, Lacson reiterated that random talks with local Reporma leaders belied party officials’ claims that local officials were pressuring campaign headquarters for funds.
READ: Lacson leaves Partido Reporma, to run as independent candidate