A "poltical exercise".
Such was the simple description given by Malacañang to the much-ballyhooed consolidation of support between former presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Joseph Estrada and that of the 2022 tandem of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and former Senator Bongbong Marcos.
Cabinet Secretary and Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles was asked to react to this joining of forces during a virtual press conference Friday, Nov. 26.
Nograles smiled and said, "That’s a political exercise, and parties are free to do what they think they should do basta (as long as it is) well within the parameters of our election laws."
Duterte-Carpio, the eldest daughter of President Duterte, is running for vice president in the May 2022 elections. It's no secret that the elder Duterte had wanted the mayor go vie for the presidency instead.
Marcos, son of the late former strongman President Ferdinand Marcos, is the one gunning for the government’s top position between the duo.
President Duterte is backing the presidential bid of Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go, his longtime aide and friend.
Just hours before Sara and Bongbong's alliance with Arroyo and Estrada was announced, Go's camp released a vague statement that hinted at him thinking twice about his Palace run next year.
Neither the President nor other Malacañang officials have reacted to Go's remarks.