NPC’s alliance with PFP led to inclusion of Sotto, Lacson in Alyansa’s senatorial slate
Former Senate President Vicente Sotto III and former Sen. Panfilo Lacson are on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’ senatorial slate because Sotto’s Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) is among four political parties that are in alliance with the administration’s Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) for the midterm elections next year.
Lacson’s entry into the administration slate is due to his being a guest candidate and “honorary member” of NPC, according to Sotto.
The administration party wanted NPC to become a coalition partner, but Sotto said that this would mean his party would have to follow the decisions of the coalition.
Distinguishing between a coalition and an alliance, he said the former means all four parties are part of one big political party bound by rules and positions. In contrast, the latter indicates that they are allies sharing the same principles, goals, and programs for the country.
“I said we should just be in an alliance so we both could have elbow room,” he told the Inquirer Mobile in an interview before filing his certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections last week.
An alliance was formed between NPC and PFP in August when Sotto, the NPC chair, met with his partymates and accepted the invitation of PFP Secretary General Thompson Lantion to form an alliance for the midterm elections.
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Common friend
Sotto said that a common friend of President Marcos, whom he did not name, met him and Lacson in June where they discussed “how politics were turning up in the Senate and the country.”
“Through our common friend, the President expressed his sentiments that it was a pity that people would not be able to make use of our long experience and extensive knowledge from our Senate stint because of our retirement,” he said.
Before submitting their certificates of candidacy on October 2, Sotto and Lacson had retired from public office after completing their respective Senate terms in 2022.
Lacson and Sotto teamed up to compete in the presidential election that year under Partido Reporma. But they lost to the tandem of Marcos and Sara Duterte.
At that June meeting, Sotto said that their common presidential friend had asked them if they were considering running for senator again, and they replied in the affirmative.
There was no offer from the common friend at that time for them to consider running under the administration’s senatorial slate, he said.
Alliance-building
Sotto, one of the longest-serving senators in the country, is eyeing a fifth term in the Senate. He said the administration’s senatorial slate was formed after PFP built alliances first with Lakas-CMD, then with NPC, and then with National Unity Party (NUP) and Nacionalista Party (NP).
From there, PFP asked the parties to submit the names of their senatorial candidates. Sotto named himself, Lacson, reelectionist Sen. Lito Lapid and Makati City Mayor Abigail “Abby” Binay to the four slots allotted to the NPC.
“With that, we had a meeting with Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo, leaders of the PFP, and other political parties, as well as Speaker Martin Romualdez,” he said,
adding that President Marcos attended one of the meetings that were held later.
He described the building of the senatorial slate as one where the leaders of the parties “put our heads together to come up with a (senatorial) slate,” which led to Marcos “endorsing the alliance.”
Completing the administration’s senatorial slate are former Sen. Manny Pacquiao, Interior and Local Government Sec. Benhur Abalos and reelectionist Sen. Francis Tolentino (all PFP members); reelectionist Senators Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., as well as Las Pinas City Rep. Camille Villar (NP), and partylist Rep. Erwin Tulfo, guest candidate for Lakas-CMD.
NUP alone has not included any senatorial candidate in the alliance.
Campaign finance
Asked how the alliance would finance the senatorial campaign, he said that each of the four parties would cover their own expenses.
“If we were a coalition, then the coalition would have to chip in,” Sotto said.
Still, with or without the administration’s invitation for an alliance, the NPC will field its own candidates for the senatorial, congressional, and local elections.
Sotto said his decision to seek another term in the Senate came after his partymates urged him to do so.
Sotto served four terms as a senator and became Senate president in 2018 under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. He, former Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Lorenzo Tañada are the three longest-serving senators in the country. Sotto joined NPC in 2005.
