Presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Wednesday, March 23, said he did not feel threatened with the announcement of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) to endorse the candidacy of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Domagoso said he will just let the people judge the decision of the PDP-Laban, which was mainly formed to oppose the Marcos reign in the past, to endorse Marcos Jr.

“It’s not up for me to judge sa desisyon nila (their decision). But I agree with you, na ang partido na ito, ay totoo sa kasaysayan, binuo para labanan ang diktadurya. That is a fact. But to judge their decision today, hayaan ko na ang taongbayan ang maghusga kung iyon ba ay tama, yun ba’y makatwiran, or morally acceptable (that this party, is historically true, formed to fight the dictatorship. That is a fact. But to judge their decision today, let me let the people decide if that is right, is that reasonable, or morally acceptable),” Domagoso said in an ambush interview.

“Because kung ang reason why it existed is to oppose the dictatorship noong araw, tapos ngayon kasama nila, hayaan ko na ang taongbayan ang maghusga (Because if the reason why it existed was to oppose the dictatorship in the past, and now they are together, I will just let the people decide),” Domagoso added.

While he is well aware that his campaign will become more difficult following the endorsement, Domagoso said he will continue to reach out to people directly to deliver his platforms.

“Hindi ako threatened (I’m not threatened) but just to be fair to you, siyempre, lalong hihirap ang laban ko. Kasi mga pedigree na nga, sinamahan pa ng mga pedigree ulit, napakalalaking grupo sa pulitika. Siyempre kailangang maging tapat ako sa taongbayan, na kung sasamahan nila ako, sasama sila sa mahirap na laban, hind sa magaan na laban (Of course, my fight will be even harder. Because they are pedigrees and very large political groups. Of course I have to be honest with the people, that if they join me, they will join the hard fight, not the easy fight),” he said.

“Tayo naman, tutuloy-tuloy tayo sa tao, tutuloy-tuloy tayo na humarap sa tao, dumiretso sa tao. Mas maraming kalsada, mas maraming townhall, mas maraming eyeball. The only challenge is geography. But it will continue,” he said.

Aksyon Demokratiko campaign strategist Lito Banayo on Tuesday. March 22, also took a swipe at the decision of the PDP-Laban to endorse the presidential bid of Marcos Jr.

"How a PDP-Laban can now support the candidacy of the son of the nemesis of their party's founding fathers is beyond any principled choice," he said.