House Members Say Popularity of Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto “Stems from his Work”
VICO SOTTO – The Pasig City Mayor was cited by the House members in their push to lower the age requirement for presidential candidates to 35.
Ahead of the 2028 National Elections that will mark the very nearing end of the presidential term of President Bongbong Marcos, some members of the House of Representatives propose amendments on the requirements for presidential candidates.
In the Philippines, there are just around five (5) considerations for a person to be eligible to run for president — the citizenship, the voter registration, the literacy, the age, and the residency. A person has to meet the following eligibility requirements:
- Citizenship — must be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines
- Voter Registration — must be a registered voter
- Literacy — must be able to read and write
- Age — must be at least 40 years old on the day of the election
- Residency — must have been a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding the election
Ahead of the next national elections, some members of the House of Representatives wants the age requirement for presidential candidates to be lowered. In their proposal, they even cited Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto.
Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto who is willing to appear at the Senate flood probe if he will be invited by the chamber is one of those local government officials who are vocal about being against corruption. He even urged the people to treat corruption as not a normal thing amid the many issues of corruption in the country now.
Sotto is the son of popular Eat Bulaga host Vic Sotto and veteran actress Coney Reyes. Undeniably, both his parents are among the veterans in the showbiz industry. However, he took a different path as he engaged in public service through a government post.
Based on a report on Inquirer, in the proposal of some House members to lower the age requirement for presidential candidates to 35, they cited Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto and stressed that he is famous because of his performance as a local government official. Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V of La Union who is one of the proponents of the Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 (RBH 2), the Pasig Mayor is not known because of his surname.
“Mayor Vico is very popular, but his popularity stems from his work. He is not popular due to his surname or his parents. And when you are a public servant, that should be your end goal: for the people to talk about your work, not your name,” Ortega said.
According to the House member, there are a lot of young and brilliant public servants. He also stressed that many of his young colleagues in the Congress are “young, idealistic, and dedicated”. He stressed that there is no limitation as to who might benefit from their proposal once passed.
Based on the report, Ortega made it clear that their move is not to clear the way for Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto’s possible presidential bid in 2028 if passed. By then, the Pasig Mayor will be 38. He is not eligible to run for president or vice president if there would be no changes in the age requirement.
However, previously, Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto announced that he will not be running in the 2028 Elections so he is free to do what he thinks is right. Undeniably, countless Filipinos are impressed by his service.
HE REALLY IS THE EPITOMY OF A VERY VERY GOOD & STRAIGHTFORWARD HONEST LEADER