Sotto gets QC backing
Belmonte explained the senator’s endorsement remains hanging on a thread citing the failure of her party to reach a consensus on their preferred presidential bet
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III has secured another endorsement for his vice-presidential candidacy in the 2022 May polls, this time from a political group led by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte.
The Serbisyo sa Bayan Party (SBP) on Tuesday formalized its support for Sotto in a meeting with members of the party at the Quezon City Memorial Circle.
“SP Sotto was a unanimous choice of the members of my local party SPB,” Belmonte said in a chance interview with reporters.
“When it came to president, the party-members have yet to decide on a choice. I’m not an authoritarian leader. I’d like to consult with the members. It’s still possible we’ll endorse a candidate later on but as of this time, we have yet to make a decision,” she said.
Noticeably missing from the fanfare was Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson — who was running for president in the upcoming elections alongside Tito.
Belmonte explained the senator’s endorsement remains hanging on a thread citing the failure of her party to reach a consensus on their preferred presidential bet. She, however, said they will still meet before the start of the campaign period for local officials on 25 March where they are expected to make their final decision.
“We cannot reconcile our decision for various reasons. Some have ties to different regions, some have different advocacies that other candidates do not support,” she said.
“It might never happen, it might happen at some point but definitely we’ll still meet prior to the launching of the local elections on 25 March,” she said.
Meantime, Belmonte said Quezon City will continue to be a “free city” and vowed to welcome all presidential tandems in their locality.
“My philosophy is to welcome all candidates which I’ve been doing. We are assisting everyone with their needs because I believe it’s healthy for the democracy if all candidates will have opportunities to reach out to the people and the people are able to listen to different candidates as well as their platforms,” she said.
Tito thanked SBP for their support and expressed hope they will also rally behind Ping’s campaign. He underscored the importance of vote-rich Quezon City for their candidacies, which has 1,403,895 voters.
“It (endorsement) will come. That happens to all the areas we visited because sometimes their leadership has already decided to endorse someone but not for their presidential candidate. But I’m very sure Sen. Lacson is one of the three being considered by the QC leadership and I’ve sponsored his endorsement,” he said.
Ping, for his part, said he would welcome the party’s endorsement but if not given, he would “go directly to the people of Quezon City.”