Is Duterte joining party in endorsing Marcos? Palace says best to wait for him to say
MANILA, Philippines — Will President Rodrigo Duterte, chair of the administration PDP-Laban party, follow the party's lead and support presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.? Better wait for him to make his own announcement, the Palace said.
Although leaders of the party faction presided over by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has endorsed Marcos, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Duterte has yet to mention anything about it.
"PDP-Laban, just like any other political party, is composed of members and officials [and] that is a collegial decision of a political party," he said in a briefing. "But the president himself has not given any statement on the issue or if he is or he is not supporting this or that president[ial candidate]."
In regular political parties, members are expected to abide by the collective decision either of the body or of its executive committee. But political parties have been historically weak and Duterte — party chairman aside from sitting president of the Republic of the Philippines — is no ordinary member.
"So hintayin na lang natin si President Duterte kung ano ang kanyang personal na desisyon at, again 'yung desisyon ng PDP-Laban ay base sa kanilang napag-usapan sa partido," he said, adding that the endorsement has clearly endorsed Marcos but it is unclear if the president has as well.
(So let us wait for President Duterte to share his personal decision, and, again, the PDP-Laban's decision is based on what they discussed within the party.)
The Isko Moreno campaign on Tuesday meanwhile questioned the decision of the Cusi-led party faction, with Lito Banayo, Moreno's political strategist, saying it did not necessarily mean that Duterte is endorsing the former senator.
The PDP-Laban National Executive Committee resolution endorsing Marcos' presidential bid was not signed by President Duterte, who sits as chairperson of that faction.
"I don't know if the president values the party that much. I'm not too sure about that," he said in Filipino.
Banayo went on to claim that President Rodrigo Duterte's own membership in PDP-Laban was "accidental."
At a ny rate, he said, "[i]t's not about local governments, it's not about parties, it's about whether you connect to the people or not", adding that "it is the sovereign people who make their decisions, and they can do it quietly or they can do it noisily."
Moreno's camp earlier said it was confident it would receive the support of the "silent majority" among voters come May.
Banayo was formerly Duterte's campaign manager in the president's landslide win in 2016.
'Endorsement inconsistent with party history'
On Tuesday, he pointed out that PDP-Laban's endorsement was inconsistent with its history as a political party.
"For the purpose of clearing the picture, the PDP was founded by late Sen. Aquilino Pimentel as an opposition party vs the Marcos dictatorship," he said.
"Laban was founded in 1978 by no less than then imprisoned Benigno Aquino Jr. to fight the Marcos dictatorship. How PDP-Laban, which merged during the time of Cory Aquino, can now support the candidacy of their founding father's nemesis is beyond any principled choice."
RELATED: Cusi faction's endorsement of Marcos shows illegitimacy, PDP-Laban stalwart Pimentel says
Aksyon Demokratiko chair Ernesto Ramel Jr also said that Moreno's focus was still on getting the endorsement of regular Filipinos, a consistent theme of the Moreno campaign.
"Good for him. Mayor Isko will continue to go to all corners and barangays to get the most important endorsement: from the Filipino people," he said, reacting to the endorsement.
However, Moreno has consistently courted the endorsement of President Duterte. He even said, when the president was considering running for senator, that he would be "honored" to welcome the chief executive into his Senate slate.
Moreno's camp has also been aggressively going after Marcos by highlighting his family's failure to pay estate tax owed to the government.
READ: Moreno party asks to see BIR demand for Marcoses to pay estate tax
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