MANILA, Philippines — Vice presidential candidate Senate President Vicente Sotto III revealed on Monday that no one asked him to withdraw from the vice presidential race.
He, however, said that there were allies of hopefuls who had asked him to support the candidacies of their bets.
READ: Lacson, Sotto to officially announce plans for 2022 on Aug. 5
“Walang lumalapit sa akin na ako’y mag-withdraw. May mga lumalapit sa’kin na sinasabi na sumuporta ako sa kanila. Pero walang lumalapit sa akin para ako ay mag-withdraw,” he told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
(No one approached me to withdraw. Some people have approached me and asked me to support them. But no one asked me to withdraw.)
“In so many words — hindi ko naman maulit ‘yung mga (I cannot repeat their) exact wordings — pero (but) in so many words, the bottomline is they would want me to endorse their candidate,” he said in a press conference during his visit in Tarlac together with his running mate Senator Panfilo Lacson.
Unification among VP bets
Sotto was likewise questioned on The Source about the possibility of unity among the vice presidential candidates to beat survey frontrunner Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
“I have not looked at it that way. Hindi ako tumakbo para talunin ang kahit sino (I did not run just to defeat any person). We were early. As early as July, August, we were ready to offer ourselves to the people,” he responded.
“So, whether may talunin o wala or iba, hindi ‘yun ang mind ko (Whether it is to beat someone or not, that is not on my mind). Ang nasa isip ko (What’s on my mind is), I know the solutions. I’ve been on national issues for a very long time and I know how to handle them. I will hit the ground running,” he added.
Sotto said that it will not be a practice run in the Office of the Vice President as he already knows what to do.
Based on the latest vice presidential survey conducted by Pulse Asia, Sotto is the second preferred candidate in the race, following frontrunner Duterte-Carpio.
READ: Sara Duterte still leads Pulse Asia’s March survey for VP