Lacson says Robredo camp asked him to withdraw presidential bid

Senator and presidential candidate Panfilo Lacson claims that Vice President Leni Robredo’s camp requested him to drop out of the 2022 race in return for his running companion Senator Vicente Sotto III, replacing Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan as Robredo’s vice-presidential candidate.

“Sa akin may lumapit. Alam ninyo offer? Doon sa Pampanga. Alam mo ang proposal niya sa akin? Senator, kaya naming paatrasin si Kiko at ipasok si Senate President bilang vice president ni Leni basta mag-withdraw ka lang. I rejected [it],” the senator said in a forum Saturday.

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(Someone contacted me in Pampanga and said, Senator, we can get Kiko to drop out and field Senator Sotto as Leni’s running partner if you withdraw from the election.)

“Sabi ko, anong klaseng offer ‘yan? Sabi ko ilalaglag ninyo ‘yung kasama ninyo para lang manalo ‘yung principal ninyo? So, I rejected,” Lacson added.

(What kind of offer is that? You will put your ally under the bus for your principal to win?)

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According to Lacson, these could be the same people who approached Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and Senator Manny Pacquiao.

“I don’t know what kind of offer was given to Mayor Isko but I heard na ganoon din may effort na para pag-withdraw-hin siya. Si Senator Manny Pacquiao nag-express na rin, may lumapit din daw sa kanila. Anong klaseng mga tao ito, ‘di ba? Arrogance has no place in a decent society,” Lacson added.

Lacson says Robredo camp asked him to withdraw presidential bid

(I’ve heard of similar attempts against Mayor Isko and Senator Pacquiao; what kind of people are these?)

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Robredo’s spokesperson, Ibarra Gutierrez, denied his camp contacted Lacson and other bets.

“What I can confirm and say with complete clarity is that this [effort to make Lacson and Senator Kiko withdraw] did not come from Leni-Kiko campaign team. There are no recent efforts to talk to him from our end,” Gutierrez said in a CNN Philippines interview.

“This is not coming from us. There are no active efforts to actually try to talk to other candidates and bring them in,” he added.

Gutierrez went on to say that Robredo has been clear from the start that she will solely campaign for her vice presidential running mate, Pangilinan.

“I don’t know where Sen. Lacson got his information but it didn’t come from the Leni-Kiko campaign. We’re focused on our campaign. We’re open to talks but initiative will not come from us,” he said.

“Senator Lacson should reveal who asked him to quit the presidential race,” Gutierrez added.

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