Kiko Pangilinan admits running vs. Tito Sotto in Eleksyon 2022 not an easy situation

Senator Francis Pangilinan on Thursday admitted that running against close relative, Senate President Vicente Sotto III for the vice presidential post in Eleksyon 2022 is not an easy situation, hoping they would be able to reconcile.

“Siyempre, hindi madali itong sitwasyon gaya ng sinabi at na-post ni Sharon but I guess lahat naman ng pamilya mayroon talagang mga hindi pagkakasundo, may mga tampuhan, may hidwaan,” Pangilinan said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

(Of course, this situation is not easy as what Sharon had said, but I guess, all families have differences and rifts.)

The opposition lawmaker said all families go through similar experience of differing in opinions.

“Our family is no different except that siyempre naging public ang aming differences and masakit para sa atin,” he said.

(Our family is no different except that of course, our differences were done in public and it really hurts us.)

“I’m hoping, Sharon and I have prayed about it also, na in the end, there will be like all other families that go through rifts, may mga family rifts, I hope that there will be forgiveness and reconciliation for the hurts that may have been caused,” he added.

Before he announced his vice presidential bid, Pangilinan said he had called Sotto as he “feels that the right thing to do” is inform the Senate president.

“I informed him and explained that this was the request of the vice president and hindi ko inaasahan na ganito ang mangyayari. So, we ended with that,” he narrated.

(I informed him and explained that this was the request of the vice president and I didn’t expect that this will happen. So, we ended with that.)

In response, Sotto recognized that these scenarios happen even though they prefer a different situation.

“Sabi niya, ganyan talaga, nangyayari ‘yan and I appreciate that, ‘no. There was a recognition that these things happen even though he prefer a different set of circumstances,” Pangilinan said.

(He said, it happens, and I appreciate that. There was a recognition that these things happen even though he prefer a different set of circumstances.)

Pangilinan will be Vice President Leni Robredo’s running mate, while Sotto will run with presidential aspirant, Senator Panfilo Lacson in 2022.

The mother of Pangilinan’s wife, Sharon Cuneta, is the sister of Sotto’s wife, Helen Gamboa-Sotto.

Last Tuesday, Sharon Cuneta took to social media her grief as his husband and his uncle will run against each other in Eleksyon 2022.

"I come home with a happy, but heavy heart. Two men I greatly love—one whom I have known since birth, and the other, one I exchanged solemn vows with twenty-five years ago, are about to vie for the second highest position in the country, and once again, I do not know what I could have done so wrong to find myself in the midst of two rocks," she said in an Instagram post.

The Megastar prayed for healing for their families despite their differences in politics. — RSJ, GMA News