MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson on Saturday said he is willing to let his fellow presidential candidate, Senator Manny Pacquiao adopt Senate President Vicente Sotto III as their common vice presidential bet.
During the Pandesal Forum, Lacson said this setup is better than Pacquiao’s running mate Rep. Lito Atienza calling for him to drop his presidential bid.
Lacson even invited Pacquiao to join his and Sotto’s campaign event later in the afternoon in Quezon City to raise the hand of Sotto.
“Ako naman, willing ako i-share na si Senate President, common candidate namin ni Senator Manny. Mag-attend na silang dalawa sa aming rally mamaya, itaas namin ang kamay ni Senate President as our common vice presidential candidate,” said Lacson.
(I am willing to share the Senate President as a common candidate for me and Senator Manny. They should attend our rally later, we will raise the hands of the Senate President as our vice presidential candidate.)
“Gusto niya magkasama pa kaming tatlo sa stage kapag nagrally eh, pareho naming itinataas ‘yung kamay ni Senate President. May kanya-kanya naman kaming platform eh, eh di bahala na ‘yung tao na mamili sa aming dalawa ni Senator Pacquiao,” he said.
(If he wants, the three of us can share the stage during rallies. We will raise the hands of the Senate President. We have different platforms. The people will be the ones to choose between me and Senator Pacquiao.)
Lacson noted that Pacquiao may have attributes that he doesn’t not have, and vice versa.”Gusto nila simulan na namin mamaya eh, umattend sila sa rally namin mamaya,” he added.
(If they want, we can start it later, they can attend our rally.)
Lacson made this suggestion after Atienza earlier urged him to give up his presidential bid so that Pacquiao and Sotto could form a tandem.
Lacson has turned down this request. Atienza later apologized to Lacson.
Atienza earlier said he is “very seriously” considering backing out from the vice presidential race to give Pacquiao a chance to forge a tandem that can win against former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Lacson, meanwhile, said he is willing to “share” Sotto as the vice presidential candidate to other teams as long as it will help the latter win.
“The better way of doing it sana, ang maganda sanang ginawa niya (Atienza), kung intention magwithdraw, common candidate na lang namin si Senate President ni Manny Pacquiao. Wala siyang vice president, adopt niya na lang na vice presidential candidate. Ako, willing to share Senate President with anybody as long as it will take him to victory para manalo sya as vice president,” said Lacson.
(The better way of doing it is to have the Senate President as our common candidate with Manny Pacquiao. If he will not have a vice president, he should adopt Sotto as his candidate. I am willing to share the Senate President with anybody as long as it will lead him to victory.)