Rappler Talk: Pantaleon Alvarez on how he can help Robredo win in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines – Erstwhile Duterte ally Pantaleon Alvarez, Davao del Norte 1st District representative, made the surprising move of dropping presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson in favor of Vice President Leni Robredo, whom Alvarez believes is now gaining ground in the 2022 elections.

The unlikely but strategic alliance between Robredo and the Partido Reporma president would help boost her chances in Davao, home region of President Rodrigo Duterte who has spent the past six years vilifying the Philippine opposition leader.

As former House speaker, Alvarez once mulled impeaching Robredo. But the tides turned when he was ousted as House speaker in 2018, in a coup orchestrated by Duterte’s own daughter and now vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

Four years later, Alvarez has apologized for his past attacks against Robredo and is vowing to go all out for her in Mindanao. He has committed to Robredo the machinery of Partido Reporma, the party Alvarez revived for the May presidential polls.

Rappler’s political reporter Mara Cepeda sits down with Alvarez to ask him about his switch to Robredo and what he thinks she must do to win in 2022. – Rappler.com