MANILA, Philippines — Vice-presidential aspirant Rizalito David called on presidential and vice presidential candidates to unite and push back against survey frontrunners Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte-Carpio, the candidates of the UniTeam slate of major parties.
During the Commission on Elections’ vice-presidential debate Sunday, David acknowledged he and his presidential bet Jose Montemayor will not win in the 2022 polls, but said that others at the debate would lose too.
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"Wala ni isa dito ang mananalo kay Sara Duterte. Wala ni isa doon sa mga presidential candidates ang tatalo kay Bongbong Marcos," the pro-life advocate said.
(No one here will defeat Sara Duterte. No one among the presidential candidates will defeat Bongbong Marcos).
So he made a call to his fellow bets: "Let us talk, let us form a grand coalition to defeat Marcos and Duterte."
"Please, please, please do a selfless act. Let us defeat Marcos and let us defeat Duterte together."
Marcos and Duterte maintained their leads in a pre-election survey released by Pulse Asia released on March 14, where 60% of respondents said they would vote for Marcos if elections were held during the survey period. Vice President Leni Robredo was a distant second, with only 15% of voter support.
In the same survey, 53% said they would vote for Duterte-Carpio if elections were held then. Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III placed second, with 24% of voter support.
Unity talks
Prior to the filing of certificates of candidacy in October 2021, there were talks of unification against a potential administration ticket.
Vice President Leni Robredo met with Sens. Panfilo Lacson and Manny Pacquiao, and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso to discuss the possibility of fielding only one opposition candidate.
All four later formalized their presidential bids, although only Robredo has identified as an opposition candidate. Lacson and Sotto have presented their tandem as an alternative ticket that will restore trust in government, while Moreno has remained open to getting President Duterte's endorsement.
During the Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews last January, Robredo said she was frustrated that a broad and united opposition did not happen and said that agreeing on a common slate would be difficult this far into the election season.
In the same interview, Lacson said his “unification proposals were rejected outright and didn't go through.”
Moreno, for his part, said: "The unification they’re talking about is only to benefit themselves as politicians. The unification I want is unification for the people." — with report from Franco Luna