It will be the tandem of presidential hopeful Leni Robredo and vice presidential bet Vicente “Tito” Sotto III for Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson in the May 9 elections.
Lacson, a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, said Sotto is the choice of NPC for vice president and the decision was announced during the meeting that he and other mayors attended Monday last week.
The governor said he explained this to Senator Francis Pangilinan, the running mate of Robredo, during their rally in Negros Occidental.
“Senator Kiko understands, he, being in politics,” Lacson said.
He said Pangilinan’s wife, Sharon Cuneta, describes Sotto as her “Dad” and she is happy that the NPC is supporting him.
Cuneta joined the Leni-Kiko People’s Rally March 11 at the Paglaum Stadium in Bacolod City.
Lacson said he will remind the NPC mayors in Negros Occidental, especially those who attended the meeting, that “they should understand that the message was clear”.
Almost all mayors and solons in the 1st and 6th districts of Negros Occidental, including Reps. Gerardo Valmayor and Genaro Alvarez Jr., are NPC members.
But majority of them also aired their support for presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
“It has been a while, since we (NPC) had a national candidate since 1992,” Lacson said, adding that “we will give it a try”.
During the 1992 presidential elections, NPC fielded the late business tycoon, Eduardo Cojuangco, who lost to Fidel Ramos.
Leni-Kiko rally
Lacson, who described the “Angat Tropa” rally of Leni-Kiko at the Paglaum Stadium as “successful”, said he is glad that he was able to contribute “a little”.
Despite the successful campaign sortie in Negros, Lacson said he was told by VP Leni that they still have a lot of work to do, and they need to exert more efforts.
While we appreciate the number of people that go to our rallies, there is so much more that needs to be done, Lacson quoted VP Leni as saying.
Asked if he will exert effort to convince other Negros Occidental mayors to change their mind, Lacson said he respects their stand.
“We all know that they are also committed to the vice governor, and I don’t want to be the reason for them to break that commitment,” he added./GB
