“Be a hero, withdraw Leni.” -Mayor Isko Moreno

Last 17th of April 2022, presidential bets Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, Senator Ping Lacson and former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales together with their vice presidential bets Dr. Willie Ong and Senate President Tito Sotto hold a joint press conference at Manila Peninsula Hotel.

The conference of the male presidential bets highlights that the following candidates will not withdraw from the elections. They are also encouraging the people to look at the other candidates and specifically emphasizes that there are other options such as “3, 4, 5 and 6” and not only “Number 2” which can be a better challenger to former senator Bongbong Marcos who continues to lead the surveys.

Lacson clarifies that, “This is not an anti-Leni press conference” as Domagoso calls out VP Leni Robredo to back out and join them instead–and says that “whatever you’re doing is not effective against Marcos.”

In response, Robredo’s spokesperson Atty. Barry Gutierrez describes the occurrence as a chance to ask ourselves “who benefits from such theatrics and what is best for the Filipino people?” and lays out that “silence would have more depth; at the very least, it would  exhibit less self-entitlement, fragility and toxicity.”

Robredo came second in the latest Pulse survey.

Source: 4 presidential bets not backing out of Halalan 2022 | ABS-CBN News