MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte endorsed his long-time aide turned senator, Bong Go, and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, for president and vice president at a dinner for House members in Malacañang on Tuesday night, one of the lawmakers present at the gathering said.
Rep. Michael Aglipay (Diwa party-list) told reporters Wednesday that some 100 House lawmakers were invited by Malacañang to dinner with Duterte with the agenda of showing support for Go and Duterte-Carpio.
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At the dinner, Aglipay said Duterte made a short speech to endorse Go and Duterte-Carpio.
“The president spoke quickly. He endorsed the Bong Go- Sara Duterte tandem,” Aglipay said in Filipino.
After this, Aglipay said seven party leaders in the House all threw their support for the tandem pitched by Duterte.
These include Rep. Wes Gatchalian (Valenzuela City) of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Rep. Doy Leachon (Oriental Mindoro) of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan, Rep. Edgar Sarmiento (Samar) of the National Unity Party, Rep. Eleandro Jesus Madrona (Romblon) of the Nacionalista Party, and Rep. Kiko Benitez (Negros Occidental) of the Visayan bloc.
House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, president of the Lakas – Christian Muslim Democrats which Duterte-Carpio is running under, was noticeably absent from the dinner with the president.
The president’s endorsement of a tandem between Go and Duterte-Carpio came after his daughter announced that she was seeking an alliance with former Sen. Bongbong Marcos for the 2022 elections.
Marcos said he and Duterte-Carpio’s parties have agreed to support their respective candidacies in the 2022 elections.
Several parties, including Marcos’ Partido Federal ng Pilipinas and the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s People’s Reform Party, have also adopted Duterte-Carpio as their vice presidential bet.