Lacson 'not surprised' by last-minute changes in admin bets for Eleksyon 2022

For Senator Panfilo Lacson, last Saturday's ruckus that happened among candidates identified with the administration at the Commission on Elections office in Manila was not surprising.

In an ANC interview on Monday, Lacson said he initially thought the administration would put up a “solid” team or tandem but his impression changed after hearing what former speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had told him.

According to Lacson, Alvarez, former secretary general of Lakas-CMD party, had told him that Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi had expressed to him fears that the administration will not have a candidate for next year's elections.

Cusi heads one of the two warring factions of the ruling PDP-Laban party.

“Kaya hindi ako na-surprise talaga sa nangyayari ngayong mga [That is why I was not surprised with these] development because of those initial information that we were getting from within,” said Lacson, a presidential aspirant in next year's elections.

Alvarez, one of the known PDP-Laban officials when President Rodrigo Duterte was elected President in 2016, is now with Lacson in Partido Reporma.

Cusi's PDP-Laban faction is pushing for the presidency of Senator Bong Go.

“Direct naman yugn pakikipag-usap ni Speaker Bebot (Alvarez) kay Al Cusi because matalik silang magkaibigan. So di na kami nagulat sa mga nangyari,” he said.

(They were speaking directly to each other because they are close friends. So we are no longer surprised on what had happened.)

Last Saturday, PDP-Laban went back to their original plan to push for the tandem of Go and President Duterte. This was after Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa withdrew his candidacy for president under PDP-Laban.

Go, who initially filed a certificate of candidacy (COC) for vice president under PDP-Laban, had also cancelled his COC and substituted the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan’s (PDDS) candidate for president.

Duterte, meanwhile, bared over the weekend he would run for vice president. He is expected to file his candidacy via substitution on Monday.

The changes happened after the President’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, on Saturday filed her candidacy for vice president under Lakas-CMD. —KBK, GMA News