Vice Presidential aspirant Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio called Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go's withdrawal from the Presidential race as a move to unite all the supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte and her followers.
"Matapos kong inilunsad ang aking kandidatura pagka Bise Presidente ng Pilipinas, nanawagan po ako sa lahat ng sumusuporta sa administrasyong Duterte na magkaisa sa ating layunin na ipagpatuloy at palawakin pa ang mga magagandang nasimulan ng aking ama. Nagpapasalamat po ako sa inyong pagdinig sa aking hiling (After I launched my candidacy for Vice President of the Philippines, I called on everyone who supports the Duterte administration to unite in our goal to continue and broaden the good things that my father has started. I'm thankful that you have heard my request)," Duterte-Carpio said in press statement Thursday, Dec. 2.
"Now that Sen. Bong Go has declared his withdrawal from the Presidential race and to quote him, “for the sake of unity among our supporters and leaders”, tuloy-tuloy na po tayo sa ating pagkakaisa kasama ang BBM-SARA UniTeam upang tayo ay magtagumpay sa ating hangarin para sa bansa (we can now continue with our call for unity with the BBM-SARA UniTeam so that we can be successful in our goal for the country)," added the incumbent Davao City Mayor.
Go had earlier said that he is supportive of the vice presidential bid of Duterte-Carpio who ran under the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The Presidential daughter would later become the running mate of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard bearer Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. after forging an alliance with the former senator and his party.
The Davao City-based senator, who filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan or PDDS, announced his decision to back out of the Presidential derby on Tuesday, Nov. 30.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec), meanwhile, said that Go is still considered a presidential aspirant in the 2022 May national elections until he withdraws his COC or is disqualified.
Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez, in an interview on Wednesday, Dec. 1, said that the senator from Mindanao has yet to formally withdraw his COC.