Internet users going gaga over Vico Sotto: 'E di ikaw na lang mag-presidente'

Councilor Vico Sotto won the Pasig City mayoral race in the 2019 midterm elections.
Facebook/Vico Sotto (Janina Vela)

MANILA, Philippines — From dethroning a decades-long dynasty when he was elected to office last year, to simply doing his job – apparently considered a feat nowadays – Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto has become something of modern symbol for good governance and a break from traditional Philippine politics.

Related: Vico Sotto ends Eusebios' 27-year hold on Pasig

Now, less than a year into his term, the neophyte mayor is being asked by his supporters to stay for good and to take things to the next level.

The local chief executive was lately seen as a standout among the capital region’s 17 mayors due to Pasig’s unique offensive against novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the Metrowide (later Luzon-wide) quarantine ordered by Malacañang.

The city’s policies, netizens observed, proved dynamic and sensitive to the needs of underprivileged constituents.

Here are just some Pasig measures where the results speak for themselves.

Besides his vocal stance against the prohibition of tricycles, Vico also left no stone unturned when it came to policy assessment and no question unanswered when it boiled down to transparency as seen in his social media posts.

Elsewhere, Filipinos left out national government planning and were clamoring: “Sana all.”

RELATED: Told to stay home, Filipino poor go out to work absent government aid

Big names also took notice of Vico’s performance.

Veteran broadcast journalist Karen Davila lauded Pasig’s mobile kitchen and P100 million allocation that would feed the city’s 30 barangays during the public health emergency.

Three-term senator and former Philippine National Police chief Ping Lacson likewise praised the mayor, regretting that he wasn’t 39 years old — a probable allusion to the 1987 Constitution’s age limit for presidential hopefuls.

Among the requisites to run for the country’s highest office is being “at least 40 years of age on the day of the election.”

The 30-year-old son of actors Vic Sotto and Coney Reyes, however, will not be able to run for president or vice president until 2034 earliest, since he will only be 32 on the day of elections (held on second Monday of May) in 2022 and just a couple of years short in 2028 when he turns 38.

He would still be able to run in the 2025 Senate race, where the minimum required age is 35 years and where politicians try out the waters for a future presidential bid since senatorial contenders are elected nationally, the same with presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Nonetheless, he has the support of certain celebrities should he choose to run for office when the time comes.

These include singer-songwriter and former Sugarfree lead vocalist Ebe Dancel and “Dead Kids” star Vance Larena.

 

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