Sotto confident Cebu's Osmeñas will boost Lacson-Sotto despite Leni-Tito endorsement

CEBU CITY - While Cebu City’s Osmeñas were pushing for the Leni-Tito tandem in the upcoming polls, Senate President Vicente Sotto III was confident that they would boost his and his running-mate Senator Panfilo Lacson's candidacies in Cebu Province.

“We are scheduling a different schedule for Lacson-Sotto team. We are doing Northern Cebu on the 6th and southern Cebu on the 7th. Naka-schedule na yun,” Sotto told reporters in an interview here.

“As you can see, the BOPK (Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan) event here is exclusively for Mayor Margot Osmena and myself and there is no presidential candidate being carried. That's precisely what I agreed to. Yun naman ang usapan namin because BOPK is a very influential group here in the city,” he explained.

Sotto added that he and Lacson would not hold a rally as big as the event hosted by BOPK and they would stick with the usual town hall meetings.

“We will be doing the dialogue. As I said, this is a BOPK event so iba ang approach namin,” Sotto explained.

As earlier disclosed by Lacson, Sotto said they are set to hold a rally in Quezon City in the coming weeks.

The BOPK led by Cebu City Mayoral bet Margot Osmeña and running-mate Franklyn Ong supported Sotto’s vice presidential bid. But they were also endorsing the candidacy of presidential bet and Vice President Leni Robredo.

Asked about BOPK’s support for the Leni-Tito tandem, Sotto said he welcomed any endorsement.

“I am very happy with endorsements of different groups. In my case, [having] a BOPK endorsement is very very valuable as far as my campaign in the Visayas is concerned,” Sotto said.

Should he and Robredo win in the upcoming polls, Sotto said he was willing to work with any presidential candidate.

“I have worked with 23 republics and I think I was able to unify and shepherd the Senate to be one of the most productive Senates ever. So obviously, I can work with anyone, basta nasa lugar,” he added.

For Sotto, Cebu City’s support was important because it had a “trickle down effect” on the other parts of the province.

“The city has trickle down effect to Northern and Southern Cebu but more so in the entire Region VII. Kaya it's very important and we all know that Cebu is one of the vote-rich provinces,” Sotto said.

The entire Cebu province has 3.2 million voters for Eleksyon 2022, of which, 713,074 are from Cebu City.

Aside from their friendship with Cebu City’s Osmeñas, the Sottos also have their roots in the province.

The Senate president’s grandfather and namesake, the late former Senator Vicente Yap Sotto, is from Cebu.

Former Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña and the local candidates of BOPK have raised Sotto’s hand at the end of the proclamation rally as a sign of their support for his vice presidential bid. — DVM, GMA News