MANILA, Philippines — Independent presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and his vice presidential running mate Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III hope to leave voters enlightened win or lose come May 9.
Lacson and Sotto believe they have achieved this through town hall meetings, which featured dialogues and open forums with local residents in the areas they are campaigning in.
“Come what may, whether it is on May 9, 2022 or in future elections in 2025, 2028, 2031 and beyond, at least we will leave a legacy for the next elections by improving our election culture from the current one where those who know how to entertain and smooth-talk are the projected winners,” Lacson said at a press conference in Tagaytay City Tuesday.
He added the town hall meetings gave them a chance to feel the pulse of the people on the ground, and if possible, offer solutions to their problems.
Lacson said they prefer this to rallies which he said are “detached” because they allow candidates to talk to the people but not the other way around.
Also, Lacson hopes the town hall meetings will finally break the “traditional politics” where thieves or incompetents get elected because they know how to entertain the crowd.
“Voters’ enlightenment, voters’ education. That’s all there is to it,” Lacson stressed.
He added he hopes a “silent revolution of the Filipino masses” will occur where Filipino voters can properly and wisely exercise their right to choose their leaders.
“A lot is at stake in this exercise because our country faces humongous problems. I hope we can create a new template in campaigning,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sotto said he hopes groups that endorse candidates will base their decisions not on popularity but on track records.
“We can only wish that all the groups that are endorsing candidates will base it on track record and not based on surveys,” he said.