Even as she’s endorsed and partnered with another presidential candidate, Senator Bong Go said on Wednesday, November 24, that there’s no doubt on who his pick for vice president is: his boss’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. 

“Siyempre, anak siya ng aking boss, marami kaming common supporters, at ayaw kong pumili ng ibang kandidato na vice president. Ano ‘to, circus?” he told reporters in a chance interview. 

(Of course, she’s my boss’s daughter, we have a lot of supporters in common, and I don’t want to choose any other vice presidential candidate. This isn’t a circus.) 

The “boss” is no less than President Rodrigo Duterte, Sara’s father, for whom Go has been working for decades.

Go, a first-term senator, is running for president under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS), a party allied with the ruling PDP-Laban, which the older Duterte chairs. 

But Sara is the chairman of Lakas-CMD and the Davao-based Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), and will be running for vice president under Lakas-CMD. Both Sara and her national party have picked Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as their “adopted” bet in 2022. 

Lakas-CMD, HNP, PFP, and former president Joseph Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) formalized their alliance on Thursday, November 25, ahead of the 2022 polls. 

Sara earlier revealed that Lakas-CMD asked for PDP-Laban’s support for a Marcos-Sara Duterte tandem but was rejected. 

The lead-up to the final 2022 lineup was long and messy. Go initially filed his candidacy for vice president but withdrew on November 13, hours after Sara formalized her vice presidential candidacy under Lakas-CMD. Prior to that, Sara had filed for reelection as Davao City mayor under HNP. 

At one point, a Palace official claimed the older Duterte would run as vice president, but he later filed for senator, also under PDDS. PDP-Laban, although the ruling party, has been hounded by in-fighting. 

In the end, PDP-Laban was left with no presidential and vice presidential candidates after Senator Ronald dela Rosa and Go withdrew their candidacies. 

Go, who had been preparing for a vice presidential run, said he was in a “state of shock” over his presidential candidacy. But Go had originally been nominated presidential candidate of PDP-Laban. 

Speaking to media, Go said his “mind, heart, and body” was resisting a presidential candidacy. Asked if that meant he’d consider backing out of the 2022 race, Go said: “Iniisip ko pa ng mabuti, maghihintay ako ng sign sa Panginoon. Kung sa tingin niya, ‘Dito ka na lang Bong,’ susundin ko po. At siyempre, ‘yung Pilipino,” he said. 

(I’ll need to think about it, wait for a sign from God. If God say, ‘Bong, this is where you should be for now,’ I’ll follow. Of course, I’ll consider what Filipinos think, too.)

The day after the chance interview with Go, Lakas-CMD made official its alliance with PFP, HNP, and PMP. The alliance has Marcos and Sara Duterte as its 2022 tandem. – Rappler.com