Senator Panfilo Lacson said Wednesday he would be installed as chairman of the revived Partido Reporma as he seeks the presidency in 2022 as an independet candidate.
Partido Reporma was founded by former Defense Secretary Renato De Villa, who used it as a vehicle for a presidenrtial candidacy in 1998. Lacson said former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who offered him to join Reporma in 2018.
"Merong in-offer sa ating partido... yung Reporma. And gusto ko rin kasing tugmang-tugma doon sa gusto kong mangyari kasi Partido Reporma," Lacson said.
Alvarez accepted the offer to join Reporma in 2020 after he resigned from President Rodrigo Duterte's PDP-Laban. He was ousted from the House speakership in 2018 and was replaced by former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
"He (Alvarez) was going around the country, ang movement niya we need a new leader in 2022. Hindi niya sinasabi kung sino," Lacson said.
"Noong nabuo niya na, naka-ikot na, sabi niya sa amin 'We need a leader [in] 2022, baka pwedeng maghanda ka,' sabi sa akin. 'Kasi ito talaga nung umikot kami, nung inikot ko ito, ang naisip ko talaga rito ikaw,'" he added.
Lacson, who will be running for the presidency for the second time, said he was more confident now than his first try in 2004.
"Noon para kaming mga ulila. Ngayon hindi ko feeling na ulila ako ngayon, maraming tumutulong, maraming gustong sumama," he said.
"Let's see, it's too early to say. Pero ito usapin namin ni Senate President, nabasa na yung talampakan natin, liguan na natin ito, wala nang atrasan ito," he added.
Lacson will be running for president with Senate President Vicente Sotto III as his vice president. They will formally launch their 2022 election bids on Aug. 4.
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