THREE weeks before the May 9 national and local elections, four presidential candidates on Sunday said they are staying in the race amid constant speculation they will withdraw and rally behind Vice President Leni Robredo, who is a far second in most major surveys. Two of them instead urged Robredo to make the “supreme sacrifice” and withdraw from the presidential race.
In a joint press conference at the Manila Peninsula hotel, presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said Robredo should withdraw her candidacy because she only ran to prevent Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family from returning to Malacañang Palace.
“Kung meron mang supreme sacrifice, ‘yung number 2 [in the survey] should do and start. Let Leni withdraw. Withdraw, Leni, if you love your country. Their [Robredo’s camp] fight is just against Marcos. It’s always about the Marcos…. Time to move on,” Moreno said.
Marcos continues to enjoy a commanding lead in the pre-election surveys followed by Robredo at a distant second trailing by 32 percentage points, then Moreno, Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Sen. Ping Lacson.
If Filipinos want “peace of mind,” Moreno said people should now consider other presidential candidates as their alternative.
“Senator Ping, he ran to offer his skills. Secretary Norberto [Gonzales], Manny Pacquiao…we are offering solutions,” he added.
“I’m calling for Leni to withdraw. Come and join us. Because whatever she’s doing against Marcos is not effective,” Moreno added. He and former Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales urged Robredo to withdraw, but Lacson did not make a similar call.
In the same conference, Gonzales also noted the sizeable margin between Marcos and Vice President Leni Robredo in recent pre-elections surveys.
“Ayaw ng taumbayan ang number two [Robredo] na lumaban sa number one [Marcos]. Hanap tayo ng bagong Number 2. Dapat ang tinitignan ng ating survey, hindi lang yung sino iboboto mo. Sensing the sentiment of the people is another indicator of where they will be going come election day,” he said.
“But the reason is not because we’re anti-Leni. It’s because we have been asked to withdraw by the Vice President. Nagkataon lang na siya. Kung si BBM [Marcos] ang nagsabi mag-withdraw kami then we will be on the same sentiment as it is today,” said Gonzales.
For his part, Lacson reminded the public that there are other options for the presidency aside from Marcos and Robredo.
“They are limiting the choices to 2 candidates. Nakakahon na lang and that’s the reason why we have to do this. That among 111 million Filipinos or so, hindi lang dalawa ‘yung pagpipilian. Actually, meron pang ibang tumatakbo,” he said.
Lacson said people who don’t want to support Marcos and Robredo can choose him, Moreno, Pacquiao, Gonzales and other candidates.
However, Lacson clarified that their joint press conference is not an “anti-Leni press conference,” while adding that they don’t want either Marcos or Robredo to win.
“We are offering ourselves. We’re not campaigning for Marcos. We don’t want Marcos to win because of destabilization,” said Lacson. He explained later that he was concerned by an alleged threat by some Robredo supporters that if Marcos wins, there will be chaos.
Lacson, meanwhile, disclosed that former Quezon City Mayor Brigido Simon Jr. approached him and asked him to withdraw for Robredo and Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III ticket.
“[Simon] told me they can ask Kiko Pangilinan to withdraw to give way to the tandem of Vice President Robredo and my running mate,” he said.
Gonzales claimed that former Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon from Robredo’s camp and two other “close friends” talked to him on withdrawing from the presidential race as a “patriotic” duty.
In their joint statement, Moreno, Lacson, Gonzales and vice presidential candidates Dr. Willie Ong and Senate President Vicente Sotto III said none of them would withdraw from their race and will continue their campaigns until May 9 elections.
The candidates vowed to serve the government if one of them gets elected.
They also vowed to join forces to fight any plan to distort the real decision of the Filipino people.
Best chance
In a press statement, Akbayan partylist group said the joint press conference of presidential candidates may be considered a first in Philippine politics, but it is also a “historic missed opportunity, a triumph of macho egos and a tragedy of political and common sense.”
According to the group, Robredo represents “our best” chance to defeat Marcos Jr.
“Of all the presidential candidates opposed to Marcos Jr., Leni pulls the biggest numbers, carries the momentum and enjoys the support of a truly broad democratic movement. Failure to see this is foolish and selfish. This presidential election is bigger than the self interest of all the candidates. Their careers and reputations are not at stake here, but the very soul and future of our democracy. With 22 days left before the election, we hope that the said presidential candidates will see the forest and not just the trees, and defend the nation’s interests far beyond their oversized egos and fragile skins,” it said.
‘Subverting’ democracy
Lacson, who declared himself an independent presidential candidate after resigning from Partido Reporma, described maneuvers to make him withdraw from the race are akin to a plot to subvert democracy by limiting people’s choices in the May 9 presidential derby.
“We are not the only one being wooed,” Lacson said, confirming that he was not alone in getting feelers to withdraw from the presidential derby in exchange for financial and other considerations.
In a press conference with fellow candidates, Lacson lamented, partly in Filipino: “They are subverting the will of the electorate even before the elections. In so many words, what is this? This is an attempt to subvert the will of the electorate even before Election Day.”
Lacson affirmed this was “the essence of our press conference – and a warning against those concerned against subverting the will of the electorate because we will stand up as one,” refering to other presidential candidates at the press conference.
For his part, Gonzales narrated their own experiences of being approached to back out of the race – and made a similar vow to reject the plot.
Lacson said he and other rival presidential bets vowed to unite “against those trying to subvert the democratic process, and to continue with their respective campaigns.”
Lacson made it clear that, “nobody will withdraw. We will go all the way till May 9, come what may. Let us not buy their propaganda no matter how foul and below the belt,” the senator stressed.
He named ex-Quezon City Mayor Brigido Simon Jr. as the messenger who approached him to withdraw in favor of Robredo after a meeting with Robredo at least twice earlier, adding that he learned from Gonzales that he had a similar experience.