Pacquiao: 1Sambayan's Carpio an intelligent man but now's not time for political lineups

Senator Manny Pacquiao on Thursday maintained that now is not the best time to talk about political line-ups as the country continues to face the threat of COVID-19.

Pacquiao made the remark following the formation of the "1Sambayan" coalition, which aims to come up with a single slate of national candidates to run against President Rodrigo Duterte’s preferred successor and his other bets in the 2022 elections.

During the launch of the said coalition, former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said they are not leaning towards including Pacquiao in their slate as he is identified with Duterte and supported the war on drugs and death penalty.

"We reject those who are identified with authoritarianism. We reject those who are responsible for extrajudicial killings.... Of course President Duterte is the exponent of authoritarianism," Carpio said.

"[Pacquiao] has not approached us, but he is identified also with President Duterte's stand on the war on drugs.... He's also for death penalty, though he quotes the Bible. So it will be difficult for us to consider him considering his affiliation with President Duterte," he added.

In response, Pacquiao, who serves as acting president of the PDP-Laban party, said he respected the former justice, whom he knows as a person of "dignity and intelligence."

"But like I said, this is not the best time to talk about these political line-ups. I will just focus on my job and continue helping our people the best way I know how. Malayo pa yan [That's far from now]," he said.

"Magsumikap muna sana tayo na gumawa ng mga paraan upang mabigyan natin ng tulong itong ating mga kababayan lalo pa't tumataas na naman ang mga kaso ng COVID sa bansa," he added.

[Let's first endeavor to find ways to give help to our fellowmen especially now that COVID-19 cases in the country are on the rise.]

Pacquiao issued a similar response when some members of the PDP-Laban urged Duterte to run for vice president in 2022, saying that it was not sanctioned by the party leadership.

He said the focus of the party was to help the public deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and not politics.

"Hindi ito panahon ng eleksyon ngayon kundi panahon para magkaisa para marami tayo matulungan," Pacquiao said.

[It's not yet election season but a time for unity and helping.] -NB, GMA News