Saying that he already saw the withdrawal from reelection of presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Senator Kiko Pangilinan on Wednesday, November 10, dismissed the possibility of facing off with her and maintained that the opposition is ready to “fight until the very end.”
He said the latest moves from the Duterte siblings was “expected” because this was the same strategy used by their family when then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte decided to run for president.
Duterte did not file his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) before the deadline of submission in October 2015, but he was a substitute candidate for now Interior Undersecretary Martin Diño.
“We are decided to fight until the very end so that’s what we are going to do. We believe this is the best way for us to be able to get more support for our tandem,” Pangilinan said during a visit to Batangas City with presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo.
“Itong mga (These) shifting alliances, etc. wala sa amin yan. Ang kinakakailangan maipanalo natin yung ating kandidaturang TRoPa at para sa ating mga katropa, para sa ating mga kababayan (that’s nothing to us. What we need to do is win the candidacy of TRoPa for our fellowmen),” he added.
READ: Mayor Sara withdraws reelection bid; fuels speculations on possible bid for nat’l post
The focus of the opposition ticket is to “consolidate supporters” by going around the country to strengthen their campaign.
“We’ll just focus on going to the different parts of the country and bringing our message. Iyon ang ating mga tututukan (That is the focus). They will do what they will do, and we will do what we will do,” he said.
The Vice President agreed with her running mate, saying that they already expected the possible substitution from candidates.
“Siguro iyong sinasabing (Maybe what they refer to as the) disqualification, iyon siguro iyong hindi namin ine-expect. Pero iyong galawan pagdating sa mga posisyon na kakandidatuhan, kabahagi na iyan sa (that’s what we didn’t expect, but the move when it comes to the positions they will run for, that’s already part of the) expectations,” she said.
READ: Sara withdraws COC for mayor; now what? Comelec explains poll substitution
Robredo was referring to the disqualification case filed against former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in connection to his prior conviction for the non-filing of income tax returns in the early 1980s.
But senatorial candidate Sonny Matula, a lawyer himself, maintained that Duterte-Carpio possibly running for president is in violation of the anti-dynasty provision of the Constitution.
On Tuesday, Nov. 9, Duterte-Carpio withdrew her bid for reelection for Davao City mayor and nominated her brother, Sebastian Duterte, to take her place. Before that, the younger Duterte also withdrew his reelection as vice mayor.
This led to speculations that Duterte-Carpio, who repeatedly said she will not run for president, will seek a national post.