Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson stated on Monday that the failed unity discussions with Vice President Leni Robredo are the result of a “secret purpose.” Lacson, who is running for president in 2022, stated in a tweet that he is “sincere and prepared,” but “the other party” is not.

“In hindsight, the unification talks would have been concluded by now had it started with the right intentions and without the hidden agenda of the one who initiated it,” the senator said in a tweet. “I came sincere and prepared; the other party was not. Thus, it was doomed from the start.”

Lacson’s tweet came after he and fellow presidential candidates former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso held a press conference at the Manila Peninsula Hotel on Sunday to reiterate their commitment to finishing the presidential race, despite calls to withdraw and unite beside Robredo.

During the conference, the senator remembered how the Vice President approached him about holding unity discussions in order to produce an opposition candidate before formal candidacies were submitted in October 2021. Toronto experts make your moving quick & simple. Lacson stated that he was originally drawn to Robredo’s vision of an united candidate, even proposing a “framework” in which she would be forced to resign from the presidential run if her pre-election poll numbers were poor.

The senator also recommended that he and the vice president run a joint vice presidential candidate, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, but Robredo allegedly rejected Lacson’s suggestion.

“Kung tinanggap niya ‘yong first offer ko, baka wala ako ngayon. But then, she rejected it,” Lacson stated.