Lacson discloses P500 per head offer for “hakot” crowds in campaign rallies

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Presidential candidate and Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday disclosed that an organizer has offered his camp to hire people who will attend their campaign rallies for P500 per head.

The lawmaker made the statement during a short press conference with Zamboanga City Mayor Maria Isabelle “Beng “Climaco-Salazar, vice presidential candidate and Senate President Vicente Sotto III, senatorial candidates Manny Piñol and Minguita Padilla.

“The other day, this is funny because one of our supporters in Luzon, Southern Tagalog Region, was approached by an organizer. I would just like to share this with you because this is somehow misleading. Sabi sa kanya baka gusto ni Senator Lacson at Senator Sotto magkaroon ng maraming rally, mayroon kaming mga tao, P500 per person. Maski ilan,” he said.

(This is funny because the other day, one of our supporters in the Southern Tagalog Region was approached by an organizer. I would like to share this with you because this is somehow misleading. He was asked if Senator Lacson and Senator Sotto would like to conduct many rallies. We can provide attendees for P500 per person.)

According to Lacson, these “hakot” crowds will be coming from Rizal, Payatas, Caloocan, and Mandaluyong.

“Bahala na kami parang human resources department...Actually, ang net take home ng each participant is something like P200. Siguro ‘yun ang net siguro meron pang additional P100, P150 for transportation and food,” Lacson said.

(It is up to us to determine the volume of the crowd. It is like a human resources department. Actually, the net take home of each participant is something like P200. Maybe that is the net because there is additional P100 or P150 for transportation and food.)

“I was surprised actually. ‘Yun palang nag-aattend ng rally ng ibang partido, sila sila rin pala ‘yun.  It was being offered to us,” he added.

(I was surprised actually. It seems those people attending the rally of other candidates are the same. It was being offered to us.)

Lacson said their leader did not accept the offer as their campaign focuses on town hall meetings.

“That’s the reality on the ground and we know that, most of the candidates know that and we can’t blame the people because coming from the pandemic, talagang ang hirap ng buhay,” the presidential candidate said.

He, however, clarified that he is not “sour-graping” and he was just stating the realities on the ground.

On the other hand, Lacson said his campaign would focus on convincing voters who consider him as their second choice to actually vote for him.

Citing a recent survey, Lacson said he got a 2% rating from the “hard supporters” while he got 40% from the “soft supporters” or those who would vote for him but they are considering his winnability.

“Imagine, 40%. So I have a good reason to suspect, to think or assume na ito ‘yung 40% most of it, ito ‘yung nagsasabing gusto namin siya, siya 'yung karapat-dapat kaya lang baka masayang ang boto namin,” he said.

(Imagine that 40%. I have a good reason to suspect, to think or assume that most of the 40%, these are the people who said they wanted to vote for me because he is the most qualified but the votes for him might be wasted.)

“So, I would like to overcome that notion kasi di ba dapat kung ang tingin mo kung karapat-dapat mamuno, iboto mo na lang ‘wag mo na isipin na masasayang ang boto. Come what may, at least you exercised your right to choose the right leader sa konsensya mo,” he added.

(So, I would like to overcome that notion because if you really think that the candidate is qualified, just vote for him and don’t think that your vote will be wasted. Come what may, at least you exercised your right to choose the right leader based on your conscience.)

Lacson compared these soft votes to a “magma waiting to erupt.”

“Kailangan ma-penetrate, ma-burst ‘yung bubble para lumabas ang good percentage of voters na nag-iisip kasi kung katwiran masasayang ang boto, ‘di ko na lang iboboto that is a disservice to yourself and the country,” he pointed out.

(We need to penetrate and burst the bubble so we can see the good percentage of voters who are thinking. Because if they think that their votes will be wasted, that is a disservice to yourself and the country.)

“Hopefully, in the next 40 days or so, we will be able to address that and baka sakaling bigyan tayo ng pagkakataon na makapagsilbi (maybe we will be given a chance to serve),” he added.—AOL, GMA News