spot_img
28.1 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Go: Rody can run for VP without prexy partner

- Advertisement -

President Rodrigo Duterte may decide to run for VIce President even without a running mate, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said Thursday, as the lawmaker maintained his hardline stance on not seeking the presidency in 2022.

“Yan sa ngayon, sa pagkakaalam ko po, wala. Pwede po siyang tumakbo bilang isang Bise Presidente na walang ulo (For now, as far as I know, nothing yet. He can run as a Vice President without a lead candidate),” said Go in a statement.

He said this would mean it’s a “free for all” for those running for President.

“So, it’s the decision of our President Duterte as of today, he will run for Vice President,” Go said, while guaranteeing he would support his longtime boss ever since their days in Davao City.

Meanwhile, the country’s biggest coalition of trade unions said it would not support Duterte’s candidacy for vice president in the coming national elections, citing his administration’s corruption, human rights abuses, and negligence in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Advertisement -

The Alliance of Labor Union Leaders said it will also reject supporting the possible candidacy of the President’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who pundits see replacing him in 2022.

“Filipino workers continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic and the negligence and incompetence of the Duterte administration,” the group said in a statement.

The workers’ coalition also branded Duterte’s COVID-19 response as “one of the worst in the world” due to the record spike of cases of coronavirus infection, which breached two million this week.

“Health workers who are putting their lives at risk every day to be able to attend to COVID-19 patients are being deprived of their measly allowance, as the Department of Health has yet to release funds for the Special Risk Allowances (SRA) for some 100,000 health workers,” the group said.

Go stressed he would support a presidential candidate who can continue the progress the current administration has begun.

He has stood pat on his decision not to run for the country’s highest elective post in the May elections, despite appeals from his partymates to do so.

While he is grateful for the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan’s trust and confidence in him when its National Executive Committee (NEC) endorsed him as President Duterte’s running mate for the 2022 elections, Go said he is already contented with being a senator.

In a letter dated August 30 to party president and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Go expressed his gratitude for the “trust and confidence” in him to be endorsed as presidential candidate and to run with Duterte as his vice-presidential candidate.

Go made it clear that he politely declines the endorsement.

Cusi responded to Go later that day in a letter, saying the PDP-Laban NEC understands his decision but is still committed to endorsing him as their presidential candidate.

The labor coalition said the failure of the Duterte administration to address labor problems, rampant corruption amid a pandemic, drug-related killings of the poor, and red-tagging were its reasons for not supporting the Dutertes.

“Workers do not deserve to suffer six more years of the same brand of politics. The reign of Duterte and his minions must come to an end,” the group added.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles