Senator Christopher Go on Saturday filed his certificate of candidacy for vice president under the Duterte-led faction of the PDP-Laban.
The move surprised everyone as Go earlier rejected his nomination as standard bearer of PDP for the 2022 elections.
“I have decided to run as vice president in the coming election to continue the good Bong…programs and real changes started by President Rodrigo Duterte and we will try to increase them even more,” the senator said.
Go, who was accompanied by Duterte when he filed his COC at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent in Pasay City, also vowed not to be a “spare tire” if he wins as vice president.
“Our economy was running well under the Duterte administration had it not been hit by the crisis,” he said. We will try to give back our countrymen their normal lives and get people out of poverty because more have lost their jobs and are starving,” he said.
“I will not be a spare tire or a reserve. Expect that I will really work not only in words but also in deed). I don’t want to be remembered as just another senator or vice president. I want to be remembered as a public servant who can be approached by any ordinary citizen and who wholeheartedly serves for the good of our country,” Go added.
There is no word yet from PDP-Laban faction led by Duterte if it will field a presidential candidate in tandem with Go.
It, however, ruled out the possibility that it will support the presidential bid of Sen. Manny Pacquiao who is leading the other PDP wing but filed his certificate of candidacy under the Promdi party on Friday.
“Senator Pacquiao claims that he is the legitimate President of PDP Laban and even called his own national assembly where he accepted their nomination as presidential standard bearer and yet he is running for president under Promdi. Let’s call a spade a spade. If that is not abandonment of PDP-Laban, I don’t know what is,” PDP-Laban secretary-general Melvin Matibag said.
“The party was only a vehicle for his presidential ambition. When it was no longer useful to him, he left us,” he added.