Duterte: The die is cast

Mayor, Cayetano seal tandem for 2016

MANILA, Philippines - After blowing hot and cold for several months, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte announced yesterday that he had made up his mind and would run for president in 2016, with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano as his running mate.

“The die is cast. I have crossed the Rubicon River. Rubicon is a bridge toward slaughter, according to Julius Ceasar,” Duterte said when asked if he was still having second thoughts.

Duterte told reporters in San Juan City that he would confer with the leadership of his party, the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PDP)-Laban, particularly former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and his son Sen. Koko Pimentel, before making the formal announcement.

“When I get to confer with the PDP leadership, I think it would be a formal announcement. When? I cannot really tell you. We haven’t met yet. I have to talk to the (Pimentel) father and son and the other leaders,” he said.

Duterte said there is no legal obstacle barring him from seeking the presidency as their lawyers have cured the defect in the certificate of candidacy filed by Martin Diño, head of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).

“I don’t know how the lawyers would fix the problem,” Duterte said. “I think the lawyers were able to sort it out, how to correct a wrong.”

Near the deadline for filing of COCs last month, Diño filed his candidacy for president under PDP-Laban.

Diño eventually withdrew his bid for the presidency and named Duterte as his substitute.

Duterte also assured Cayetano that the senator would be his running mate.

Duterte said he would be filing his COC to substitute for Diño before the deadline set by the Commission on Elections on Dec. 10.

“At the most convenient time for everybody. Before Dec. 10,” he said.

Duterte added that there is also no reason for him to withdraw from the race.

“All of them are greatest opponent,” Duterte said, referring to the rest of the presidential bets.

Meanwhile, Cayetano said he was prepared to let go of his vice presidential dream as the price of his full support for Duterte.

“I don’t want to but I’m serious. I said that on my birthday. I told the mayor that it’s easy to ask one to sacrifice. I was challenged. I told him I want us to work alongside each other, a one-two punch. But if he does say it, then I have to seriously consider it,” he said.

Cayetano added that he would campaign for Duterte even if the Davao mayor asks him to abandon his vice presidential dream.

“All I know is that I will follow him and that I will campaign for him. I don’t even want to be sure that he wants me to be his vice president.  My support for him is unconditional; I’d still campaign for him, whatever position he will give me… it’s a bonus if he wants to work with me,” he said.

“That would be a big sacrifice but the bigger the sacrifice, the bigger the reward. So, whatever he needs. If he needs a vice president, then side by side with him, if he needs an advance… I am there. If he needs for me to withdraw so that I can support him,” Cayetano added.

Cayetano only demands that Duterte would keep his promises of instituting changes in the country in exchange for his stepping down as vice presidential bet.

Cayetano also gave assurance that there would be no shortage of campaign funds for Duterte as people are more than willing to pitch in.

Disagrees with Pia

Cayetano also took a swipe at his elder sister, Sen. Pia Cayetano, for siding with Sen. Grace Poe on the issue of nationality.

“I disagaree with my sister. I always respected her. We don’t dictate on each other. Even on divorce, she’s pro, I’m anti. There are many issues where we don’t agree. I think she is wrong. I think she voted as an advocate rather than a cold neutral judge,” he said.

Cayetano said his sister’s decision was influenced by her advocacy for child welfare as he stressed that there was no pressure to influence her on Poe’s case.

Duterte has informed the PDP-Laban of his intention to run for president and all that he needs to do now is to go to the Comelec to file his certificate of candidacy.

The decision and call up

PDP-Laban president Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said yesterday that Duterte called him up last Saturday informing him of his decision to run for president.

Pimentel said that Duterte told him that what pushed him to finally seek the presidency was the ruling of the SET on the disqualification case of Poe, which he said totally disregarded the provisions of the Constitution.

“He was very angry. For him the Constitution is sacred,” said Pimentel.

He said the SET decision was just one of the reasons that pushed Duterte to run for president.

“It was an accumulation of his frustrations or concerns due to the complaints given to him, like the laglag-bala (bullet planting extortion scam at the airport) and now like what Senator Alan (Cayetano) calls the tanim citizenship (citizenship planting). I guess he had enough already,” Pimentel said.

According to Pimentel, everything is set for Duterte to file his COC for president because the PDP-Laban has opened its arms to him.

At the time of Diño’s withdrawal, Duterte was still undecided on his plans to run for higher office and he had said that he was not interested in the presidency.

Pimentel claimed that Diño’s filing was not a ploy to allow Duterte to run as his substitute because at the time his COC was filed, Duterte had no presidential aspirations.

He said that Diño is a capable candidate for PDP-Laban because he can stand on the key principles of the party, including the push for federalism.

Pimentel said that the entry of Duterte as a presidential candidate of PDP-Laban has rejuvenated the party.

“The party is re-energized and is now flexing its political muscle,” he said.

Pimentel said that Duterte’s experience, reputation and performance, particularly on three major issues, make him a strong candidate for president.

He said that Duterte has a clear and credible stand and platform on the “all-out war against criminality, the fight against corruption and the need for structural changes like federalism.”

Senator Poe, for her part, refused to comment on Duterte’s claim that she would be an “American president.” 

Poe said that she would rather keep her thoughts to herself.

“If he wants to engage in name calling, let him be. As my mother taught me, respect your elders and help others,” Poe said.

Poe denies Duterte’s claim

Poe also denied the claim of Duterte that she offered herself as his vice presidential running mate earlier this year when she was not yet performing well in the surveys on presidential candidates.

Poe confirmed that she met Duterte once in the first quarter of this year at her home in Quezon City but said that they never discussed the 2016 general elections.

According to Poe, at the time of that meeting, she had not yet decided if she would seek higher office.

Poe said that a common friend invited Duterte to meet her.

She declined to identify the common friend except that the person is a friend since high school and one of the children of former foreign secretary Alberto Romulo.

Duterte told reporters over the weekend that Poe offered to be his running mate when she was still not performing well in the surveys.

By the time that she started moving up in the surveys, Duterte said that Poe asked him to be her vice presidential candidate.

“That did not happen. What we discussed there was about the past elections and some personal issues. If I was the one who wanted something from him then why would I ask him to come to my place,” Poe said.

“I met him in 2013 and he helped me. That is why I was surprised at what he said. As far as I am concerned, everything that I said is true and I can stand by what I said because there were other people who were there,” she added.

Poe said that it is not in her nature to dictate on any person what he should or should not do, especially on political decisions. With Marvin Sy