Sotto open to any talks among VP bets to unite vs Sara Duterte

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday said he was open to any talks among vice-presidential candidates to unite against Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

The lawmaker made the remark following the call of fellow vice-presidential candidate Rizalito David for other bets to unify and form a coalition that would defeat the tandem of Duterte and presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

“Siyempre lahat ng klaseng pag-uusap ay bukas kami,” Sotto said in a press conference in Nueva Ecija when asked if he will welcome any unity talks among vice presidential bets.

(Of course, we are open to any kind of talks.)

Although he said it was “unethical” for him to comment on David’s appeal, Sotto still welcomed the proposal.

He also disclosed that there were one or two candidates who approached him and implied that they wanted him to win if voters won’t vote for them.

“Mayroong isa or dalawang kandidato na, di ko na sasabihin kung sino, na sinabi sa akin na kung ‘di rin lang daw sila ang iboboto, sana ako daw,” he said.

Nevertheless, Sotto said it was up to the voters to elect their vice president in the May 9 elections.

This was not the first time that a unity candidate was floated ahead of the 2022 national and local elections.

Presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo initially held discussions with other presidentiables over forming a coalition that would match up against the administration’s standard-bearer.

This, however, did not come to fruition.

Sotto’s running-mate, presidential candidate and Senator Panfilo Lacson, initially offered Robredo a “formula” that would unify his ticket with the opposition, but the vice president was not “sold on the idea.”

According to Robredo, Lacson’s proposal was for all of them to file certificates of candidacy for president. Whoever had the highest in the surveys would be the coalition presidential bet and all the rest would withdraw.

Now that they are in the middle of the campaign, Lacson said he was no longer open to the idea of uniting against the administration candidate.

“I cannot abandon the Senate President. I cannot abandon our supporters. Naghirap na sila e,” Lacson explained.

Marcos maintained a lead among fellow presidential bets in pre-election polls, scoring 60% for the second consecutive Pulse Asia survey released on March 14.

The poll, conducted from February 18 to 23, showed Robredo a far second with 15%, followed by Manila Mayor Isko Moreno with 10%.

Senator Manny Pacquiao settled for fourth place with 8%, followed by Lacson with 2%.

The rest of the presidential candidates namely Faisal Mangondato, Leody de Guzman, Jose Montemayor Jr., Ernesto Abella and Norberto Gonzales scored 0.4% or less.

Four percent of the respondents were undecided.

In the same survey, Duterte widened her lead against her rivals with 53% against Sotto who rated 24%.

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, for his part, was third with 11% which is the same as his previous rating.

Physician Willie Ong, on the other hand, scored 6% while Deputy Speaker Joselito Atienza only had 1%.

Other vice-presidential bets only scored 0.1% or less, while those undecided or who refused to answer the question on who to vote for vice president reached 4%.

Earlier in the day, a faction of the PDP-Laban that President Rodrigo Duterte was affiliated with formally announced their endorsement of Marcos’ bid.

The same PDP-Laban faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi had already endorsed the vice-presidential bid of Sara Duterte.

Despite the ruling party’s announcement, Malacanang said Duterte was not yet endorsing anybody for the 2022 presidential race.

The Lacson and Sotto tandem visited Nueva Ecija on Tuesday as part of their national campaign.

Before their dialogue with different sectors, the tandem met with Gapan City Mayor Emeng Pascual.

For the 2022 elections, Nueva Ecija has 1,541,685 registered voters, of which 90,203 are from Gapan City. — DVM, GMA News