LLASOS: His ‘best ’ was not fast enough
He rushed back from Cavite province, sometimes doing “180 kilometers per hour,” just to make it on time in Parañaque City and be among the anointed ones.
Why the hurry? According to lawyer Marwil Llasos of the Ang Kapatiran Party, he earlier received word that he would be among the senatorial candidates to be endorsed Saturday night by the White Vote Movement (WVM) led by El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde.
But he was dropped later from the list because he failed to personally appear at the El Shaddai International House of Prayer in Parañaque, where the announcement was made during a prayer rally.
“I was just wondering, is it really the (WVM) council of laity who decides who gets to be endorsed? And is it a requirement for endorsement that you have to be there personally? Because if they really would like to endorse you, it doesn’t matter whether or not you were there,” Llasos told the Inquirer the next day.
He maintained that he did not deliberately skip the El Shaddai event. He missed it because he was late going back to Metro Manila from a speaking engagement in Cavite.
As early as April 25, Llasos recalled, he already learned from the council members and “insiders” that “I am included among those to be endorsed.”
Interview by the council
But he got a call Saturday morning informing him that the WVM was holding back the list and would first subject the candidates “to an interview by the council of laity.” The interview was set around 2 p.m. or a few hours before the payer rally, he said.
He made it to the interview and even saw other
candidates there, like former Manila Councilor Greco Belgica, former Senators Richard Gordon and Juan Miguel Zubiri, and former Tarlac Gov. Margarita “Ting-ting” Cojuangco.
Llasos and his supporters then left for Cavite for the speaking engagement around 4:30 p.m.
Later, on their way back, “they (WVM people) kept calling us saying ‘makakahabol ka, makakahabol ka (you can make it)’. We’re already doing 180 kph but still we didn’t make it.”
Llasos also blamed the heavy traffic.
“(Then) one text message came saying I already missed the WVM endorsement because I was not yet there,” he added.
In hindsight, Llasas said the whole episode may actually be a blessing in disguise.
“I tried my best to be there, but perhaps the circumstances that led to my failure to appear at the prayer rally was also the solution to my dilemma. I saw the hand of God preventing me from making a very difficult and antagonizing decision of later on declining the endorsement based on party decision,” he said.
“I was not keen on getting the endorsement of WVM if my other party mates are not included,” he said, referring to the two other Kapatiran candidates running for the Senate, John Carlos “JC” Delos Reyes and Rizalito David.
“Because Kapatiran works as a team, each endorsement which does not include JC and Lito is bittersweet for me.”