DAVAO CITY Mayor Inday Sara Duterte has been clear in her statement that she will not run under the PDP-Laban party, its president Alfonso Cusi said amid speculation she is the group's eventual presidential bet.
Senator Ronald Dela Rosa has
filed his candidacy for president under PDP-Laban, with Senator Christopher Go
as his running-mate.
Asked if PDP-Laban is really
going to field the tandem in the 2022 elections or if the party will be looking
for another candidate, Cusi said: “Anything is possible at this time.”
However, he said Duterte,
daughter of party chairman President Rodrigo Duterte, is firm on her stance.
“Yung kay Mayor Inday Sara substituting Bato, that is something na hindi namin
na-consider because very clear naman ang statement ni Mayor Inday na hindi siya
tatakbo under PDP. So kung hindi siya, paano namin isa-substitute yun?"
Cusi told ANC's Headstart.
Election rules allow substitution
of candidates if both the original filer and the substitute contender are under
one party.
Duterte, who has been leading
preference surveys on the presidency, heads regional party Hugpong ng
Pagbabago. She has filed her candidacy for
re-election as mayor.
Cusi said Dela Rosa was fielded
because the party's original plan fell through. PDP-Laban had earlier nominated
Go for president and the elder Duterte for vice-president. Although
Duterte initially accepted the
nomination, he pulled a surprise when he later accompanied his long-time aide
Go in filing a certificate of candidacy for vice-president.
“Nung hindi po nangyari yun and
the President said 'I’m not going to run anymore,' we made an adjustment in the
party because we cannot be orphaned na wala kaming kandidato na presidente saka
vice-president. Ang pinakamabilis nun, pinag-file na po si Sen. Bong Go for
vice-president,” Cusi said.
“During that time, even before
naman na nag-uusap kami, iniisip namin who are the possible candidates—everybody’s
a possible candidate, puwedeng tumakbo. At that time, nandun po si Sen. Bato at
sabi natin, may advocacy rin ito, so yun ang napagkasunduan ng partido, na
i-field siya para magtakbong presidente,” he added.
Dela Rosa was chosen to be the standard
bearer because he is aligned with the advocacy and the "program of
government" of the party, Cusi said. “Why did we put Senator Bato? It’s
because he has that advocacy, he supports the program of the president so he
can advance the party’s program. Yun ang hinahanap namin sa presidente,” he
said.
A former police chief, Dela Rosa
had led Duterte's anti-narcotics drive before he was elected as senator in
2019. In a recent virtual conference, Dela Rosa revealed that he was
chosen as the presidential bet of Cusi’s PDP-Laban wing some 2 hours before the
filing of candidates closed. He said he was surprised with the decision, but it
was a “great honor” for him. (ABS-CBN)
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