Aksyon Demoktratiko presidential bet and Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno will accept the possible endorsement by President Rodrigo Duterte after Senator Bong Go announced his withdrawal from the 2022 presidential election.
“Hindi ako tatanggi. Ang pulubi, hindi nakakapamili,” said Moreno when asked about it.
(I will not deny it. The beggar cannot choose.)
He said he was honest from the very beginning that he needed help, allies, followers, and volunteers for his campaign.
Despite this, Moreno clarified that his camp has no plans to pursue getting the President’s endorsement.
“Kung ako ang mapupusuan nila, salamat, thank you in advance. Pero ayoko pa rin pangunahan sila until they say so,” Mayor Isko Moreno said.
(If they like me, thank you, thank you in advance. But I still don’t want to lead them until they say so.)
Moreno had earlier issued statements that if he wins as the country’s new president, he will continue the war against illegal drugs that are allegedly under the law and the ‘Build, Build, Build program’ of President Duterte.
Isko Moreno will accept possible endorsement of Duterte
In October, Moreno’s party-list defended him against allegations that he was Duterte’s secret candidate.
“That is a really laughable propaganda, or black propaganda if I might put it out there, against the mayor,” Aksyon Demokratiko chair Ernest Ramel said.
“Why would a young politician with a greater year ahead of himself put himself in such a bind, put his reputation into risk?” he added. “A second term for him in Manila is very easy…Why risk yourself and why destroy your political career and reputation just because you wanted to be a secret candidate?”
Mayor Isko Moreno himself denied that he was a secret candidate by the Duterte administration.
“I am not a candidate of President Duterte. Because I disagree with them, I agree only with them kapag kapakinabangan ng tao (only when people benefit from their initiatives),” Moreno said.
Senator Bong Go on Tuesday announced his withdrawal of candidacy for president in the 2022 elections.
He said he was not ready and did not want to be a burden to Duterte. However, he added they would support candidates who would continue the change that the Duterte administration started.
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