Lacson says he won’t apologize to Robredo: I did not call her to drop prexy bid

PILAR, Capiz — Presidential candidate and Senator Panfilo Lacson said he will not apologize to Vice President Leni Robredo as he maintained that he did not call for her withdrawal from the presidential race.

Lacson issued his remark after fellow presidential candidate Norberto Gonzales apologized to Robredo, who admitted he felt uncomfortable when Manila Mayor Isko Moreno called for the Vice President to drop her presidential bid.

"Ako, I have nothing to apologize for because I did not join the call for VP Leni to withdraw. Sinabi ko lang 'yung facts, what transpired bakit nag-fail 'yung unification talks as early as before filing [of certificate of candidacies]. 'Yun lang ang sinabi ko wala naman akong dinagdag, wala akong in-embelish doon I just presented 'yung nangyari sa amin as it happened, as it transpired," Lacson said at a press conference here.

(Personally, I have nothing to apologize for because I did not join the call for VP Leni to withdraw. I only stated the facts and what had transpired when the unification talks failed as early as before the filing of the COCs. That's what I said there. I just presented the events as it happened, as it transpired.)

On Monday, Lacson maintained that the unification talks among presidential aspirants was doomed from the start.

He said that it could have succeeded by now if it only started with the "right intentions" and "without hidden agenda."

In the same press conference, Lacson said he believes the press conference did not have a "backlash" on his presidential bid.

"That [backlash] was the impression that they are trying to make or create. Actually, 'di pinagtulungan kasi malinaw naman ang direksyon ng aming joint presscon is to at least pre-empt or thwart yung attempts na mag-disinformation na mayroong magwi-withdraw sa amin," Lacson said.

(That was the impression that they are trying to make or create. Actually, we did not gang up on her because the direction of the presscon was clear. It is to at least to pre-empt or thwart the attempts to inform the public that we will withdraw from the race.)

"All of us, ganon ang ginagawa tapos isa-isa kinakausap hindi lang mag-withdraw kung hindi mag-campaign pa for them gaya ng sinabi ni Bert Gonzales. So I don't think there is a backlash. At least napenetrate maski papaano yung echo chambers nila ni BBM at tsaka ni VP Leni, maski papaano  nandodoon nagreverberate yung nangyari sa presscon," he added.

(All of us experienced that. They talked to us one by one with some being asked to even campaign for them. So I don't think there is a backlash. At least, we were able to penetrate the echo chambers of BBM and VP Leni. The message somehow reverberated after the presscon.)

Lacson mentioned that most of the people who are bashing them after the press conference are "trolls."

"Those who are hitting us, 'yung nagbabash alam naman natin (we all know that) most of them are trolls ano. Sanay na ako sa Twitter kasi ako nagmamanage ng Twitter account ko (I am used to this because I manage my own Twitter account) and I can easily tell [if it is] a troll when I see one," he said.

Last Sunday, Lacson along with other presidential bets-- Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and former Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales held a press conference to promise that they will not withdraw from the race.

This, they said, was prompted by alleged attempts by Robredo's camp to ask them to drop from the race to beat the frontrunner, presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the son of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos.

At the same press conference, Moreno called for Robredo to drop her presidential bid.

Lacson and his running mate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, have since distanced themselves from Moreno's call. Moreno's own running mate, Dr. Willie Ong, also said that everyone should continue with their candidacies. —

In a social media post over the weekend, Robredo called on her supporters to just focus on their campaign efforts. — RSJ, GMA News