MANILA (Reuters) – Four candidates for president of the Philippines, including retired boxing star Manny Pacquiao, have quelled speculation that they are withdrawing from the race and said they remain an alternative to host Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso, Senator Panfilo Laxon and former Defense Minister Norberto Gonzalez, at a joint news conference on Sunday, vowed to fight together “any attempt to undermine the true will of the people through preventive maneuvers or otherwise limiting their choices.” “.
“Each of us will continue with our respective presidential campaigns and will strive to be worthy of the choice that our people will choose from,” they said in a joint statement.
Pacquiao, who was originally expected to join the press conference but did not show up, will also “never resign despite black propaganda initiated by other candidates”, according to his spokesman.
All four are lagging behind in opinion polls on the eve of the May 9th election, while Marcos – the son and namesake of the country’s late dictator – retained a clear lead, with Vice President Lenny Robredo far behind in second place.
“There have been many attempts to limit the choice of the electorate to two (Marcos and Robredo). That is why we had to do this (joint press conference),” Laxon said, without specifying who was making such moves.
Domagozo went so far as to call on Robredo, the only candidate, to make a “supreme sacrifice” and withdraw from the race to defeat Marcos.
“I urge Lenny to step down. Whatever you do is not effective against Marcosi, “said Domagoso, a former actor better known by his stage name Isco Moreno.
Laxon said he was not the only one to withdraw from the race, ostensibly “in exchange for financial and other considerations”.
But Robredo’s camp rejected her calls to withdraw.
“Three weeks before election day, we are in a time of great momentum for our people’s campaign,” spokeswoman Barry Gutierrez said in a statement.
(Report by Enrico Della Cruz; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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