Four-cornered fight for presidency seen

MANILA — A four-cornered fight for the presidency looms in 2022 as political analysts foresee one of the five likely contenders backing out at the last minute to throw support behind another candidate.

Law professor Antonio La Viña said the presidential race may come down to a candidate endorsed by President Duterte, an opposition led by either Vice President Leni Robredo or Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, former Duterte ally Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Speaking at Friday night’s episode of “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s OneNews, La Viña said the question is whether Robredo and Moreno would form a united front against the administration or run separately.

“The rhetoric coming out of Isko Moreno is he is going to be hard-hitting against this government,” he said, noting how the mayor is posturing as a candidate of the opposition.

La Viña said Pacquiao, who has been attacking alleged corruption in the Duterte administration, is also likely to run for president.

As for Lacson – the first to declare his presidential bid with runningmate for vice president Senate President Tito Sotto – La Viña said he may back out and support a stronger candidate.

“It might be Lacson... at the last minute will endorse (a stronger candidate), but you can see that they (Lacson and Sotto) will run,” he said.

Also on The Chiefs, political analyst Dindo Manhit described next year’s elections for president as still a matter of personalities, with candidates defining themselves as better choices than the one fielded by Duterte.

“Some will say they are more moderate. Some will say they will position themselves more with the opposition,” Manhit said.

Professor Edmundo Tayao, who also joined the program, agreed that the presidential showdown will be far from being bipartisan or a one-on-one battle between the administration and a united opposition.

“It would be at least four,” he said of the number of candidates vying for the presidency.

As for Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, La Viña believes she would likely run for president but only if her father backs out of the vice presidential race.

He said DuterteCarpio does not want to run in tandem with her father because she sees the Chief Executive more as a liability than an asset.

“She sees the father as a burden in the campaign and she certainly doesn’t want to be president with a father as vice president,” La Viña said.