Lacson lashes back at Atienza

FILE PHOTO: Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza,. INQUIRER FILES

Presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Thursday slammed “impertinent” vice presidential candidate Rep. Jose “Lito” Atienza for asking the senator to back out of the presidential race.

“For the nth time, I’ll finish this race and I’m not backing out. I suggest that Lito Atienza should go back to school and study [good manners and right conduct], which I authored,” Lacson said during a campaign sortie in Iloilo City on Wednesday.

“Who is he to tell me to withdraw when he does not have the personality? That’s kabastusan (impertinence or rudeness) to say the least,” Lacson added. “For somebody like him, who is older than me, to tell one candidate to back out without even consulting. That is insulting.”

The 80-year-old Atienza, three-time mayor of Manila, is running alongside 43-year-old presidential aspirant Sen. Manny Pacquiao, but announced on Thursday that he may withdraw from the vice presidential race because of his poor showing in recent surveys. However, he has not officially withdrawn.

Atienza has not been joining Pacquiao in campaign sorties, having just undergone a knee replacement surgery after he lost his balance and fell before his proclamation rally.

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