Robredo dismisses rivals’ call to quit Philippine polls

Philippines

Three candidates issue appeal despite lagging behind only female candidate in election race

Philippine presidential candidate Leonor “Leni” Robredo has shrugged off calls from several of her rivals for her to stand down and quit the race.

Manila mayor and actor Francisco Domagoso — who goes by the stage name Isko Moreno — former lawmaker Panfilo Lacson and former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales urged her to withdraw from the upcoming May polls in a joint press conference in Manila on Easter Sunday.

Their call came despite opinion polls showing Robredo a clear second in the presidential race with about 24 percent of support behind frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr. with about 56 percent. The others, however, were showing only single-digit support.

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“The number two in the surveys should do and start the supreme sacrifice. Let Leni withdraw. Withdraw, Leni, if you love your country. I’m calling for Leni to withdraw because whatever you’re doing is not effective against Marcos,” Domagoso said.

Accusing her of breaking a promise not to stand in the polls, he called on Robredo to step aside and join him or one of the other candidates.

Robredo, however, said she had no reason to quit, especially now that her campaign was gaining momentum.

“Never in the history of Philippine elections has a person in second place in surveys been asked to quit by those below her. Where did they get the nerve to call Vice President Robredo to quit simply because they are lagging behind her?”

“With three weeks to go before election day, we are at a time of great momentum for our People’s Campaign and increasing clarity as regards which candidates can count on the people’s support when they enter voting booths on May 9,” Robredo’s spokesman and lawyer Barry Gutierrez said in a statement.

Robredo said running in an election is a legal right and the candidate may choose to finish the electoral race or not.

“From the start, it has been the prerogative of every candidate to continue till the end, the same as it is the choice of a candidate to disregard surveys, rally attendance, endorsements or any other conventional measure of support,” she added.

Robredo’s supporters said Moreno, who ranked third in the latest election surveys, was resorting to desperate measures.

“Never in the history of Philippine elections has a person in second place in surveys been asked to quit by those below her. Where did they get the nerve to call Vice President Robredo to quit simply because they are lagging behind her?” Robredo supporter Margie Caspian told UCA News.

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