Sotto: Tarlac officials' support for UniTeam not an NPC decision
MANILA, Philippines — The Nationalist People's Coalition has yet to endorse a presidential candidate, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III — party chair — said Sunday in response to a newspaper report that he dismissed as misleading.
Sotto is running for vice president alongside Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, who is continuing his presidential run as an independent candidate after leaving Partido Reporma.
Sotto was responding to a Manila Bulletin report that suggested that the NPC had already endorsed the UniTeam tandem of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. The report was based on statements by Rep. Victor Yap (Tarlac), who said the provincial chapter was backing Marcos and Duterte, and by Gov. Susan Yap, who is campaigning for UniTeam.
"While regional and/or provincial chapters may have their preferred list of candidates, such choices do not reflect the NPC as a NATIONAL coalition of political allies and people's groups," Sotto said in a statement Sunday.
"News about the support of our entire organization, with an emphasis that I chair the NPC, is an unacceptable and desperate move to optimize lies and exaggerated optics. We should not allow this to continue to happen, lest the freedom of the press that the Filipino people value gets misused and abused," Sotto also said.
Two NPC candidates for senator — reelectionist Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and Rep. Loren Legarda (Antique) — are in the UniTeam slate.
In a tweet earlier Sunday, Sotto called the Manila Bulletin report "completely false" and said the newspaper's staff should be ashamed for publishing it. The headline of the story has been changed to "Leaders of NPC in Tarlac endorse Marcos, Duterte" from the initial "Sotto-chaired NPC endorses Marcos-Duterte".
In response to Sotto's tweet, Lacson said: "Tarlac Gov. Susan Yap couldn’t have said it more clearly: she alone supports another tandem and does not impose on her party mates and constituents. As we often tell each other, there are dynamics in this campaign that we cannot comprehend, much less control."
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