Did Duterte endorsement help him win Pasig? Mayor Vico answers

Speaking on the pilot episode of Quarantined with Howie Severino, Vico Sotto on Tuesday said he would have won Pasig City's mayorship even without President Rodrigo Duterte’s endorsement.

While conceding that Duterte’s endorsement was a big help to his candidacy, Sotto said he still would have likely won the election because his team was well prepared for the campaign.

“Probably yes kasi naka-setup na ‘yong ano namin noon eh. Kumbaga we were good to go pero siyempre malaking tulong pa rin ‘yon,” explained Sotto.

“Hindi ko sinasabing hindi. Don't get me wrong. Please don't take me out of context but utang na loob, wala kasi wala namang usapan 'yon eh. Kumbaga wala namang... there's no condition to that,” he added.

“Pumunta kami sa Malacanang. Of course, if you're... isang government official ka at pinatawag ka ng Presidente, pupunta ka talaga. And I respect the office. I respect the president and I'm very thankful for the endorsement,” said Sotto.

As to whether he considered himself a political ally of Duterte, Sotto saw himself more as an independent.

“I mean kapag mayor kasi, it's not like the job of a congressman or a senator na mas polarising, ano. Kapag mayor ang problema namin 'yong day-to-day na trabaho eh,” he explained.

But whether he was ally or an oppositionist was “irrelevant,” given that Sotto was more focused on actually doing his job.

Furthermore, he had no interest in national politics as long as he was getting the job done in Pasig.

“I ask help from the national government as I need it or as we need it and the national government does help us. It is also their mandate to help the local governments. It's in all of our mandates to help each other as government officials and government offices whether national, local, city, barangay government. Kailangan nagtutulungan ang lahat.”

Sotto added that what he was trying to accomplish in Pasig was something substantial and not some sort of national politics gamesmanship.

“Pero ako naman para sa akin wag din nila ako gamitin. Whether kakampi ka or kalaban ka ng presidente, wag nyo akong gamitin sa pulitika, pulitikan niyo kasi ako dito nagtatrabaho ako sa Pasig eh and I've been... we've been working so hard here in our LGU,” Sotto said.

“Kumbaga there's a lot on my plate already. Hindi na para makisawsaw ako sa national politics.”  — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News