The tandem of Partido Reporma chairman and presidential candidate Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and his running mate Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is the “strongest” pair among aspirants in the 2022 national elections, said top political strategist Malou Tiquia.
Tiquia also said the tandem appears to be the readiest to perform the duties of the country’s top posts.
Meanwhile, once elected in next year’s elections, Lacson and Sotto vowed to lead the country as a “Council of Two,” with the Vice President not a mere spare tire for the President.
Lacson also said that vote-buying and fake news are the top threats not only for the coming May elections, but for democracy in general.
While Lacson and Sotto may not be leading the surveys during this unofficial campaign period, Tiquia expects the landscape to change next year, when the official campaign period begins on February 9.
“But things will change once we hit February. I think in the last 48 days, 50 days, that tandem (Lacson-Sotto) has remained quiet and was going to and reaching out to people. Now that is campaigning,” she said.
In the “Politics as Usual” program hosted by Pia Hontiveros on CNN Philippines, Tiquia said the Lacson-Sotto tandem have all the combined experience compared to other aspirants in the May polls next year.
These characteristics, she noted, will serve them well both in the campaign and when the people elect them as President and Vice President.
“It takes more than just being around and being active in the arena. If you’re going to look at tandems, the tandem of Lacson and Sotto have all the experience, combined experience,” said Tiquia on the program, which discussed the topic “Political capital: Spending it on your anointed.”
“The reason why I always say I look at the Lacson-Sotto tandem as the dark horse (is) because they have the capability to come from behind,” said Tiquia.
“If the President (who is anointing his successor) is saying, let’s look for a strong President, sino ‘yun? Who’s the strongest? If you scale through the list, it would appear ‘yung dalawang ready on day one is apparently that tandem,” she added.
“It takes more than just that (being close to the President) to be President. I have to remind your listeners (that) we need a leader who has been tested by time because we are going on a reboot. Yung ekonomiya is very important,” Tiquia told Hontiveros.
Former Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Lacson’s campaign manager who was also on the program, added: “As Malou says, experience is very important.”
“For example, as she says, the experience of Sen. Lacson and Sen. Sotto. That is unparalleled anywhere, nobody else has that kind of experience, so they don’t really need endorsements from anybody, their endorsement comes from their own performance themselves,” Puno said.
“They’ve proven, in everything they have done, that they have the wherewithal, the experience, courage and the discipline to be able to do what needs to be done,” he added.
Tiquia challenged CNN viewers and Filipinos to “patuloy na maging mapanuri. Hindi pa tapos ang halalan, lahat ng nakikitang ratings sa surveys, those are pre-campaign ratings.”
“Let us be conscious of that and let’s look at the platforms, tigilan na natin ‘yung personality-driven at tirahan, tingnan natin ang plataporma, kasi ang 2022, mahalagang makabangon tayo,” she added.
Also, during the “Meet The Press,” Lacson assured that he and Sotto will always be consulting with each other for the good of the nation.
He said they agreed that if they are elected by so-called block voting, they will observe a ‘Council of Two.’
Sotto, Lacson’s longtime friend and companion in the Senate, who actually urged him to run for the country’s highest position, added: “Imagine if Senator Ping is elected President and executes the budget he has watched for over 18 years? It would be such a relief to our countrymen. This would be the answer to all our problems with money,” he said.
Asked how a Lacson-Sotto administration would project a better relationship between the Executive and Legislative branches of government, Lacson said: “That’s where we have a good advantage, especially with SP. I have never experienced, ever since I sat in the Senate, that the Senate President was not threatened with a leadership coup, not once.”
The former national police chief said Sotto is a master of consensus building.
“He knows (the executive-legislative relationship) more than I do, without forcing the issue,” stressed Lacson.
Not only will Lacson and Sotto show a stronger synergy between the offices of the President and Vice President once elected in next year’s polls, the duo vowed to always “walk the talk” with the policy decisions they make together while in office.
The tandem has a combined 83 years in public service with 42 spent in the Senate.
