Senator Panfilo 'Ping" Lacson and Senate President Vicente 'Tito' Sotto III have officially launched their tandem for the upcoming national elections, vowing to restore Filipinos trust in the government again.
On Wednesday, during their launch event, Lacson and Sotto announced their candidacy for president and vice president, respectively, in the 2022 polls.
In his speech, Sotto said the country has been facing many problems from the COVID-19 pandemic down to corruption. He further emphasized that the biggest issue right now is the hopelessness and mistrust of the public to the national government.
“Ngunit ang mas malubhang problema ay ang kawalan ng pag-asa. Huwag na huwag yan ang mawawala. Marami sa atin ay hindi alam kung kanino na magtitiwala, okung ano ang paniniwalaan,” Sotto said
“Ang isang lipunan ay lalago lamang kung mayroong tiwala: tiwala sa kanilang institusyon, tiwala sa Hukom, tiwala sa kapulisan, tiwala sa gobyerno, tiwala sa mga namumuno, tiwala sa mga mamamayan. tiwala sa isa’t-isa. Hindi tiwali,” he continued.
Lacson, meanwhile, said they are "in the process of drawing up a roadmap or a master plan that will serve as our platform of government that we intend to present to our people."
He also admitted that it would be a big problem to bring back the public's trust, noting that it can only be done by setting good leadership, this time.
"Malaking hamon subali’t kailangang maibalik ang tiwala ng ating mamamayan sa gobyerno at sa mga namumuno. I could not stress it enough. Ang tamang pamumuno ay dapat pangunahan ng ‘leadership by example’ hindi sa salita kundi sa gawa. No leader can succeed if he cannot practice what he preaches,” Lacson stated.
“Kailangan natin ng lider na ang tama ay ipaglalaban at ang mali ay lalabanan. Kaya naman magiging una sa ating prayoridad ang mas maigting na pagtugon sa pandemya. Marapat lamang na punan ang mga kakulangan at ituwid ang mga kamalian,” he added.
Lacson noted that he and Sotto will "steer our country from despair to hope, from apathy to empathy, from fear to trust, from poverty to prosperity, from self-pity to dignity."
"Between me and Tito Sotto are more than 80 years of honest, dedicated and competent public service. We have the proven competence, integrity and courage to lead the country so we can rise from the rut we are in," he said.
"We promise that we will not stop this fight until the order of our country is restored. That's a promise! And when we make a promise, we will never break it!" Sotto exclaimed.
Lacson and Sotto are the first government officials to formally announce their presidential and vice-presidential bids for 2022.
"We are nearing the crossroads of our nation's modern history - and we cannot afford to choose the wrong direction in charting the course of our nation in the next six years," Lacson ended.
