There should only be one "pro-democracy opposition candidate" to avoid dividing the votes of those who do not agree with the current administration, the group 1Sambayan said.
"1Sambayan believes coming together as one will prevent a repeat of the scenario in 2016, when a president won by a plurality but not a majority of votes," the group said.The group's convenors said they are looking to endorse a candidate who has a clean track record, an upright stand on key issues, platforms that address the country's current problems, "recall among the voting population... and the verve to compete with other candidates for the people’s votes.
President Rodrigo Duterte's daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, and PDP-Laban acting president Manny Pacquiao would not be included in the shortlist, Del Rosario told reporters. Duterte had said in 2018 that he had to be a "dictator" to put the country in order, and that his “only sin” was extrajudicial killings.
A Social Weather Stations survey in December 2019 also revealed that the administration scored an "excellent" or net satisfaction rating of +73 at the time. "Kung gusto nila maging successful, dapat ang panawagan nila ay magkaisa. What this country needs is unity, not messages with the word reject," she said.