The time for political junking is here. With the elections drawing close, alignment of forces are expected.
The first breakdown took place between former allies Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson and Davao del Norte 1st District Representative Pantaleon Alvarez?
This after Alvarez announced on Thursday that Partido Reporma, which he is the president, is now endorsing the presidential candidacy of Vice President Leni Robredo in the May 2022 elections, which according to reports led Lacson to resign from the said party.
In a statement, Alvarez said it was a hard choice to make and with a heavy heart, many members of Partido Reporma are constrained to consider a candidate other than their first choice.
“We reasonably believe that the only realistic option at this point, with roughly a month and a half left, is to converge with Leni Robredo’s campaign. Together, we will pursue the realization of our collective aspirations to improve the chances of ordinary Filipinos at a better life,” he said.
Alvarez added that the Reporma members and officers concerned, they positively, but realistically, view the opportunity to help ensure that the Leni Robredo campaign is strengthened and further represented by additional sectors of society, especially from those in Mindanao, which runs the risk of being neglected again when President Rodrigo Duterte steps down from office.
“We respect the choice of our members and officers. They are not “Pink”, but they are reformists, and they are for Leni Robredo. The fight for good governance and a better tomorrow for our people has never been, and never will be, limited to a single color. And on my part, I personally have also made a decision. We need a leader. And for the 2022 Presidential elections, given all these considerations and the crisis we have to overcome, that leader is a woman. Her name is Leni Robredo,” he said.
Alvarez added that Robredo has also shown that she represents ideals which are substantially in line with the aims of Partido Reporma: to reform government and provide a better future for Filipinos.
In February this year, Lacson claimed that Davao del Norte is the bailiwick of Partido Reporma.
If elected, Lacson even promised to find solution in the lingering problem of the banana industry of the province, the fusarium wilt, by establishing a national laboratory for banana diseases in Davao del Norte.
Alvarez described Lacson as the best, and that their leaders on the ground have echoed that sentiment time and again.
“Even supporters of other candidates agree. And under ideal circumstances, they want to campaign and vote for him and see him lead the country. He is the most qualified to be President. But the electoral terrain in 2022 is far from ideal, and fate had other plans. Time and context framed the narrative of 2022 in a way that gave traction, rightly or wrongly, to other candidacies instead. This is a difficult fact which takes courage to admit,” he said.
