Senatorial candidate and former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo has earned the endorsement of his former boss, President Duterte, for his candidacy.
In a video message uploaded to Panelo's Facebook account Tuesday, Feb. 15, President Duterte asked the people to vote for Panelo, whom he described as "kind."
"When he was still my Cabinet member, he talks of nothing except for the good of the country," Duterte said. "And I believe him because I have known him for long."
Duterte believes Panelo has the "intelligence" and "capacity," a compliment that was accepted by the senatorial aspirant.
"It is a great honor for me to have been given the trust and support of the Duterte family. They can rest assured that I will continue in the Senate the "tapang at malasakit (courage and compassion)" brand of public service that President Duterte initiated," said Panelo, who is running under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party chaired by Duterte.
A presidential endorsement is highly coveted by candidates running for elective positions.
Currently, there is still no endorsement from Duterte in terms of his presidential bet for the upcoming May 2022 elections.
Aside from Duterte, Panelo also earned the endorsement of vice presidential candidate and presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Presidential hopeful Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., whose running mate is Duterte-Carpio, has already named its senatorial line-up, but it did not include Panelo.
"I wholeheartedly support Mayor Sara, in the same manner that I supported her father—even if we belong to different parties. I am overjoyed that Mayor Sara has endorsed me even though I am not part of the UniTeam," Panelo said.
Duterte-Carpio chairs the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) party.