President Rodrigo Duterte has heeded calls for him to run for Vice President in the 2022 elections, said PDP-Laban Executive Vice President Karlo Nograles, who also announced the ruling party’s initial senatorial slate composed of five Cabinet secretaries on Tuesday.
In a statement, Nograles said Duterte "agreed to make the sacrifice and heed the clamor of the people and accepted the endorsement of the PDP Laban Party for him to run as Vice President in the 2022 National Elections."
But Malacanang has yet to confirm reports that Duterte will run for vice president.
In a press briefing, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said the President would announce his political plans for the May 2022 elections in his televised Talk to the People.
Roque confirmed that Duterte spoke with PDP-Laban President Alfonso Cusi on Monday night. Duterte sits as chairman of the Cusi faction of the ruling party.
“I can confirm that they talked, but I do not have personal knowledge as to what transpired and I will leave it to PDP-Laban as a political party to make the announcement,” Roque said.
But Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III of the rival PDP-Laban wing with Sen. Manny Pacquiao questioned the real intention of the Cusi faction, even before the Pacquiao side announced its own nominee for the country's top post in next year's elections.
In a statement, Pimentel described the development as “unusual and unheard of.”
The senator, whose father Aquilino Pimentel Jr. founded the party, sits as vice-chairman of Pacquiao's wing of PDP-Laban.
"Choosing the VP candidate first before naming your presidential candidate is an unusually circuitous convoluted process. Which I have never encountered before," Pimentel said.
The lawmaker added that it is usually the presidential nominee who chooses his or her running mate, not the other way around.
"PDP Laban has not reached that level yet of having chosen a VP candidate [because] we will most likely delegate to our presidential candidate the choice of his or her running mate VP," Pimentel said.
However, in a statement, Cusi reached out to Pacquiao and asked him to consider joining the senatorial ticket of the administration party in the 2022 elections.
“As I have said before, it would be best for Sen. Pacquiao to join the senatorial ticket of the PDP Laban in the 2022 elections. Despite our differences, he remains our member and we would certainly welcome him if he so decides to run for senator under our party,” Cusi said.
These shall be among the matters to be taken up at the PDP Laban national convention to be held this September 8 at the San Jose Del Monte Convention Center in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, the Nograles statement added. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)
There was no immediate reaction from Pacquiao, the boxing legend who just came from a defeat to Yordenis Ugas in their welterweight fight last weekend.
The deadline for filing of certificates of candidacy is October 1.
Aside from Duterte, Nograles said the PDP-Laban Cusi wing will also field the five candidates for senators: House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, and Public Works Secretary Mark Villar.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the first to declare his intention to join the vice presidential race under the Nationalist People's Coalition, said of PDP-Laban’s Duterte announcement: "It does not affect my resolve anyway."
Sotto's running mate, Sen. Panfilo Lacson also stressed it would not matter to him and Sotto's determination to run in May.
"We have already declared, and at this point, there is no turning back," he said.
According to Lacson, they will continue to hope that the electorate will not be swayed by entertainment politics, nor affected by fear and intimidation when they choose our country's next leaders.
"As long as the campaign runs on issues involving our people's desire for good governance made possible by fixing a systematically broken government, we are good," said Lacson, who is yet to get the backing of Sotto's party in his presidential run.
Lacson might run under Reporma, the party founded by the late Sen. Raul Roco.
"Good luck to all candidates," said Pimentel, who had been pushing Pacquiao to run for President.
Nograles said popular calls from PDP Laban regional, provincial, and down to the barangay councils aspiring for a transition of leadership that would guarantee continuity of the administration’s programs during the past five years was presented to the 74-year President.
Among the programs that they want to be continued by Duterte are the battles against terrorism, insurgency, corruption and poverty, and the scourge of illegal drugs.
They also want a continuity of what they call the successful implementation of the Build-Build-Build Program and the 10-Point Socio-Economic Agenda and a guarantee that the country’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program will be sustained in the critical stage of the pandemic where targets are steadily achieved (now reaching 45 percent in the NCR and neighboring regions).
In other developments, Sen. Richard Gordon said he would either run for president, senator or Olongapo mayor in 2022, or else retire from politics.
While Gordon earlier said that he was planning to run for president for the second time next year, the senator noted that he remains undecided "because family is a consideration."
"I don't think I want to be vice president," Gordon told reporters in an online press conference.
Gordon, who had a recent bout with COVID-19, said he would first consult his wife, Kate, who is dealing with "temporary inconveniences" health-wise before announcing his 2022 political bid. "Until I got COVID, I did not realize I could have harmed my wife,” he said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo, Iriga City Mayor Madel Yorobe Alfelor, and individuals from different sectors of Bicol have expressed their support for Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima’s campaign for reelection for the 2022 national elections.
In her recorded message played during the launch of #LabanLeila2022 campaign volunteer network in Bicol today (August 24), Robredo, who, like De Lima, also hails from Bicol, said the Senator was never alone in her fight for justice, freedom, and democracy.
Robredo added “history will remember this as a time of grave injustice not least because a person of great honor, courage and integrity like Sen. Leila has had to sacrifice years of her life in the name of truth and our rights.”