Partido Lakas ng Masa presidential bet Leody De Guzman met with voters and supporters at the public market of Pasig City on Tuesday, where he pushed his advocacy of higher wages for workers and lower prices of goods.

Joining him at the event were his running-mate Walden Bello, senatorial bet Luke Espiritu, and the nominees of their PLM partylist.

They will also meet with homeowners at government housing in Bgy. Maybunga.

De Guzman described Pasig City, where he lived and worked for 9 years, as a prime example of their progressive advocacies having been put into action by first-term mayor Vico Sotto.

The group paid a courtesy call to Mayor Sotto at city hall hours before the sortie, a meeting De Guzman called “reunion ng mga nagkakaintindihan” or of those who see eye-to-eye.

“Dito namin nakita kay mayor ‘yong mga implementation ng aming inilalaban—kontraktuwal gawing regular, pabahay para sa maralita, unahin ang tao kesa sa bilyonaryo. Dito namin nakikita, nasisilip na kaya itong ipatupad at isang eksaktong halimbawa nyan ‘yong ginagawa ni mayor dito sa Pasig,” he said.

“Kaya ‘di imposibleng magkaroon ng isang gobyernong matino na binubuhay hindi ang bilyonaryo kung hindi masang Pilipino.”

De Guzman’s group lauded Sotto’s intervention during the strike of workers of a drink company as well as the regularization of many long-time employees of Pasig City hall.

Bello said the group also discussed with Sotto the formation of a Pasig alliance of labor and democracy which would consist of workers in the city to protect their welfare.

The labor leader added their talk with the mayor, which even touched on their agreement to push the Anti-Political Dynasty Law, was also fun, with De Guzman asking Sotto how he was able to do his backwards basketball shots, whose videos had circulated online.

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Meanwhile, De Guzman and Bello criticized the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to retool its final round of debates into panel interviews with the presidential and vice-presidential contenders.

However, they said they are still willing to face the interviews provided these do not end up like the Comelec’s e-rallies, where candidates merely pitch their platforms without question.

Both candidates said the scrapping of the debates, which followed the issue with contractor Impact Hub Manila, only benefitted survey frontrunners Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Mayor Sara Duterte-Caprio.

The UniTeam candidates were absent from all of the Comelec-sponsored debates.

“Pumapalakpak si Bongbong dahil hindi na makicriticize. Sa panahon ng may debate at hindi sya dumalo, napipitik siya. Naire-remind sa taumbayan na binastos na naman tayo, every time magkakaroon ng debate na wala siya. Ngayon mawawala na ‘yon,” De Guzman said.

Bello, who had used the last debates as opportunities to diss Marcos Jr. and Duterte even off-topic, said the Comelec should have just put up the money to proceed with the final debates rather than cancel them.

He warned the panel interviews would not have the same impact as the debates.

“Kasi ang gusto ng tao may tunggalian, may question and answer, may debate, so that they can measure people as to capabilities. Pero itong pre-recorded, sigurado ako walang manonood niyan,” Bello said.