Davao Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez said the Partido ng Demokratikong Reporma will support Vice President Leni Robredo for the May 2022 presidential election instead of Senator Panfilo Lacson, its erstwhile candidate.

In a statement on Thursday, Alvarez said: ''With a heavy heart, many members of Partido Reporma are constrained to consider a candidate other than their first choice. We reasonably believe that the only realistic option at this point, with roughly a month and a half left, is to converge with Leni Robredo’s campaign.''

Earlier, Lacson announced he is leaving the party and will run for the presidency as an independent candidate.

Alvarez said two candidates, former Senator Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. and Robredo ''have pulled away from the pack.''

While Robredo, who has 15 percent to Marcos' 60 percent, Alvarez said:''It is evident that her campaign has gained, and continues to gain, significant traction. ''

''There is much potential there. She has also shown that she represents ideals which are substantially in line with the aims of Partido Reporma: to reform government and provide a better future for Filipinos. Our ground leaders have expressed their wish to participate in that brave calling,'' said Alvarez.

While saying that many feel Lacson is ''the most qualified to be President'', Alvarez said: ''The electoral terrain in 2022 is far from ideal, and fate had other plans. Time and context framed the narrative of 2022 in a way that gave traction, rightly or wrongly, to other candidacies instead. This is a difficult fact which takes courage to admit.''

Alvarez said Reporma members and officers '' positively, but realistically, view the opportunity to help ensure that the Leni Robredo campaign is strengthened and further represented by additional sectors of society, especially from those in Mindanao - our home - which runs the risk of being neglected again when President Rodrigo Duterte steps down from office.''

''We need a leader. And for the 2022 Presidential elections, given all these considerations and the crisis we have to overcome, that leader is a woman. Her name is Leni Robredo,'' said Alvarez. DMS