Leni, Isko camps not keen on uniting vs Marcos

Manila City Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso (left) and Vice President Leni Robredo. (INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS)

MANILA, Philippines — The camps of presidential aspirants Vice President Leni Robredo and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Tuesday brushed aside calls for them to form a united front to defeat the front-runner, former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

“[Unification] is something we are open to, but it is not something that we are currently actively pursuing at the moment,” Barry Gutierrez, spokesperson for Robredo, said in an interview.

“At this point in the campaign, I think every candidate, every camp, is focused on doing their own thing, doing what they can to present their candidates, their advocacies [and] their platforms to the electorate,” he added.

Still, Gutierrez said that with 34 days to go before Election Day, “a lot of things can still happen.”

At the same time, he clarified that Robredo did not enter into any negotiation or agreement with a group of Domagoso supporters that dropped him and decided to back her presidential candidacy instead.

‘A pleasant surprise’

“Let’s be clear. There was no negotiation that happened here. The support was actually … a pleasant surprise,” he added. “There was no prior negotiation. There was no dealing here … If support is going to be given to the Vice President’s presidential run, and it’s freely given, meaning there’s no strings [attached], then we will accept it.”

On Monday, the Visayas chapter of the Domagoso volunteer network Ikaw Muna Pilipinas defected to the Robredo camp, citing her stronger poll numbers, and to ensure that “the country would not be run by an incompetent, unqualified and law-breaking Bongbong Marcos ….”

‘Make ultimate sacrifice’

Another Domagoso supporter, former Tourism Secretary Narzalina Lim, also signed a petition urging him and the other candidates to “make the ultimate sacrifice of setting aside their personal ambitions … for the sole purpose of beating their common enemy—Marcos Jr.”

But the mayor’s chief strategist, Lito Banayo, scoffed at the appeal for a common candidate, saying a withdrawal by the Aksyon Demokratiko standard-bearer and his running mate Dr. Willie Ong would only deprive voters of better alternatives in the May elections.

“Ours is a multiparty system. It is not the ideal setup, but that is what the 1987 Constitution declares, so we operate under this. Let the people choose whoever they deem best,” he told the Inquirer in a Viber message.

At a press briefing later on Tuesday, Banayo said: “This is not about exclusivist factions who believe they are morally upright compared to the rest of humanity … We’re fighting for the people, not for one person or one faction.”

To date, Marcos Jr., the late dictator’s son and namesake, has dominated preelection polls, with Robredo a distant second. Domagoso and Senators Manny Pacquiao and Panfilo Lacson are trailing further behind.

Banayo, who also advised then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte during the 2016 presidential campaign, said that Domagoso’s cause was larger and more important than the feud among powerful political families.

“This fight is about the people. It is not about hating this faction or that. It is about giving the ordinary man a break from dynastic and power-clinging politicians,” the veteran political operator said.

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