Vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio admitted Thursday afternoon, Feb. 17 that film actor Robin Padilla wasn't technically part of the BBM-Sara UniTeam Senate slate--at least not yet.
In a chance interview on the sidelines of her campaign sorties in Ilocos Sur, Duterte-Carpio said that ultimately, two people would have to make the final decision on Padilla.
"Antayin na lang po natin yung official na statement ng UniTeam, dahil dalawa po kami diyan sa UniTeam. Ang isa po ay si Apo (Let's just wait for the official statement of UniTeam, because there are two of us in UniTeam. The other one is Apo BBM)," the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) chairperson said.
Duterte-Carpio was referring to Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer and former senator Bongbong Marcos. Duterte-Carpio is Marcos's running mate in the May 2022 polls.
However, the lady mayor did say in the same interview that senatorial aspirant Padilla was "technically not yet" part of the UniTeam ticket. "So, so far hindi pa, technically hindi pa (not yet, technically not yet)," she said.
At any rate, Duterte-Carpio revealed that the popular film actor has sought permission from Marcos to tag along and campaign with them.
"Para sa akin sinasali ko na siya sa pangangampanya dahil nagpaalam siya kay Apo BBM kahapon (I've been including him in our campaign since he already sought permission from Apo BBM yesterday)," the presidential daughter said.
During her speech at the BBM-Sara UniTeam proclamation rally in Paoay, Ilocos Norte on late Wednesday night, Duterte-Carpio introduced Padilla to the crowd as among the 12 senatorial candidates of their ticket.
A total of 12 Senate seats are up for grabs in the elections that are less than three months away.
Confusion regarding Padilla's status then arose when, just minutes later, Marcos remarked that the former wasn't actually included in their senatorial line-up, although he was considered "part of the group".
In her speech at a rally Thursday in the town of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, the Davao chief executive once again mentioned the actor as one of UniTeam's 12 senatorial bets.
The name of Padilla, who rose to fame in the 90s thanks to action flicks written around his "bad boy" image, received the loudest reaction from the audience.