Sotto and Lacson delays formal launch of candidacy due to spike in COVID Delta variant cases
August 03, 2021 02:32 PM
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, who is running for vice president next year, announces postponement of official candidacy launch with Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, his presidential running mate.
“It is a purely sensitivity issue, even considering that the event will be virtually presented.”
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson have recently declared their confirmed tandem for the 2022 elections, the first official announcement from any party running for office next year.
Sotto, who is running for vice president, and Lacson for president, both agreed to defer their candidacy’s official launch, originally scheduled for August 4, due to the resurgence of COVID cases because of the Delta variant.
The new coronavirus strain is said to be highly transmissible and could cause more serious complications than the previous COVID variants.
Metro Manila will be placed back under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from August 6 to 20 due to the spike in new COVID cases.
The Senate, meanwhile, announced that it will suspend sessions from August 9 to 11 in observation of the ECQ.
Sotto said he and Lacson are thinking of rescheduling their formal launch once the ECQ is lifted, or on September 8, which is a month before the filing of certificates of candidacy at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
Lacson said, “While we are grappling with an evident surge in the infection rate, we thought we should focus more on attending to our people’s health concerns and priorities than any other non-health related activities.”
Sotto added, “It is a purely sensitivity issue, even considering that the event will be virtually presented.”
Sotto and Lacson toured around Luzon in July to hold consultative meetings with various government officials and business leaders regarding their plans on running for higher office next year. And in the third week of the same month, Sotto announced on CNN Philippines that the two are, indeed, running for the top posts for the presidential elections.
