MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday rejected the call of vice presidential bet Lito Atienza for him to withdraw from the May 9 elections.
Lacson maintained he will not abandon his presidential bid.
“I reject his call. For the nth time, I’ll finish this race and I’m not backing out. I would suggest that Lito Atienza should go back to school and study GMRC (Good Manners and Right Conduct), which law I authored. Kaya binalik natin yung GMRC sa elementary school para bumalik yung values ng mga Pilipino (The reason we put back the GMRC subject in elementary schools is to ensure the return of Filipino values.),” Lacson told reporters in a press conference in Zamboanga del Norte.
“Who is he to tell me to withdraw? Wala siyang personality, I’m not backing out, ilang beses ko nang sinabi yan,” Lacson added.
Lacson also said that telling another candidate to withdraw is “insulting.”
“That’s kabastusan(disrespectful) to say the least. For somebody like him na mas matanda pa sa akin na magsasabing mag-backout ang isang kandidato without even consulting, that’s insulting,” he added.
Earlier, Atienza said he is seriously considering dropping out of the vice presidential race.
He added that he is “hoping and praying” that Lacson would do the “self-sacrificing act” of withdrawing from the race so that his running mate, vice presidential bet Senate President Vicente Sotto III, can possibly team up with another presidential candidate, Senator Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao is Atienza’s running mate.
When asked about what he thinks of Pacquiao endorsing Sotto’s vice presidential bid should Atienza back out, Lacson said he welcomes “anything that will boost” the Senate president’s candidacy.
Lacson also has no problem with Sotto joining Pacquiao in his campaign activities.
“I will not prevent SP Sotto from attending any of Manny Pacquiao’s rallies as long as he (Sotto) endorses only me,” he added.