Robredo spox: No official emissaries sent to other camps

The camp of Vice President and presidential candidate Leni Robredo on Wednesday denied sending emissaries to other candidates.

Ibarra Gutierrez, spokesperson for Robredo, issued the statement after Senator and presidential candidate Panfilo Lacson claimed that an emissary from Robredo's camp has asked him to back out from the presidential race as part of unification efforts.

“The campaign has not officially sent any 'emissaries' to other candidates,” Gutierrez said.

“There have been several groups and individuals that have been working towards some form of unification, and the Vice President has always maintained that she remains open to these conversations,” Gutierrez added.

Earlier in a campaign sortie in Isabela on Monday, Lacson claimed that a “mediator” allegedly from the camp of Robredo floated the idea of dropping his presidential bid and unite behind one candidate to increase the chances of winning against survey frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Asked if Robredo’s team has offered him to drop his bid, Lacson said he won’t name names but there is a “mediator” who’s clearly from their camp.

“Mediator. I won’t name names… May digang ganoon pero papunta sa kanila ang usapan. Oh anong iko-conclude ko alangan namang kay Bongbong e hindi naman binabanggit si Bongbong,” Lacson said.

(There was a push for that and it is going toward their direction. What will I conclude? I don't think it is from Bongbong because they did not mention Bongbong.)

“Para daw labanan si Bongbong para mas malaki ang chance. Ano ang ibig sabihin non? Ang sabi ko tumakbo kami para magsilbi hindi mamunterya ng tao,” he added.

(They said the idea was to fight Bongbong and increase the chances of winning against him. What does that mean? What I said is we are running to serve the people not to fight a certain person.)

Lacson said the mediator approached him “very recently.”

Lacson proposal

Lacson previously said that he proposed that all possible opposition candidates for President should file certificates of candidacy (COC) and that only the individual who will fare the best among them in the pre-election polls will pursue the bid while the rest will drop out of the race.

Robredo said she does not approve of Lacson's proposal, saying she does not want to mislead her supporters.

Robredo also tried to form a united ticket with Senator Manny Pacquiao and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, but this did not prosper with Pacquiao and Moreno also pursuing their respective 2022 presidential bids. — RSJ, GMA News