Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said he remains hopeful of getting the endorsement of President Rodrigo Duterte despite the latter’s remarks that voters may select an “Ilocano” they want to install in Malacañang.
“As long as there is no election yet, there is hope. It’s not May yet,” Domagoso said in an interview with reporters in Tarlac where Team Isko was being hosted to a lunch by Governor Susan Yap, Vice Governor Carlito David and provincial board members.
The 47-year-old presidential aspirant said that whatever happens between now and the May 9 elections, he could always take courage from the genuine and unbridled heartwarming support he and his fellow Aksyon Demokratiko candidates get from the ordinary people, or the so-called silent majority, wherever they go.
“The way I see it, and you also see it, maybe it can’t be denied, that the crowd, the welcome and the warmth of the reception of the people, you feel it,” he said.
Even in provinces that are supposedly part of the so-called Solid North – from Pangasinan and La Union in Region 1 and Qurino, Isabela, Cagayan and Kalinga in Region 2, Ilocanos and members of indigenous tribes welcomed Domagoso warmly.
Duterte, for his part, made his latest remarks in front of Ilocanos during the inauguration of a farmers’ market last Friday in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur.
In November, Duterte called Marcos a “spoiled child” who is articulate in English but is a “weak leader” and “has baggage.”
“Let us persevere, let us work hard, and we will really persuade our Filipino compatriots anywhere in the Philippines and we will not stop. And I’m hoping for all the help. Now if by chance, for example, President Duterte helps me, he endorses me, that’s a huge bonus. Of course, I would like that right? Who doesn’t want to be voted for by the president of the country?” Domagoso said.
“But just the same, we will not stop. We will not give up. As long as there is no election yet, there is hope,” he added.