NPC wants to hear Duterte's plan for country

The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) has expressed interest in hearing Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte's platform of governance and plans for the country a day after he declared his openness to run for president.

 

NPC spokesperson and Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga on Sunday said the party's executive committee (ExeCom), which will have the final say on who the party will endorse, is open to listening to Duterte's plans if he finally confirms his presidential bid.

 

“As part of the NPC's approach of [conducting] due diligence in selecting the presidential candidate to support in 2016, the party's ExeCom is interested in hearing out Mayor Duterte's proposed platform of governance and programs he would be focusing on if he so finally decides to run for the presidency,” he said in a text message.

 

While the ExeCom has yet to discuss the details of a possible meeting with Duterte, Enverga described the mayor's possible foray into the presidential race as a “welcome addition” to the list of candidates that voters would choose from in the May 2016 elections.

 

Earlier this month, Enverga said Duterte's possible candidacy for president as the substitute bet of the Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is one of the factors that is keeping the NPC from throwing its support behind the tandem of Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero as its presidential and vice presidential candidates.

 

Duterte hinted about seeking the presidency Saturday after the Senate Electoral Tribunal moved to junk the disqualification case against Poe. The mayor said one's citizenship as a natural-born Filipino should not be clouded in doubt.

 

Defeated senatorial candidate Rizalito David had alleged in his petition against Poe that the senator should be unseated from her current post because of her supposed failure to prove that she is a natural-born Filipino citizen.

 

On Facebook, PDP-Laban president Senator Aquilino Pimentel IV rallied supporters of the party to back Duterte's possible candidacy.

 

“TO ALL PDP LABAN: GO na tayo, we have a Presidential candidate!” he said in a status message.

 

Duterte has been chosen by PDP Laban as its substitute candidate after its first nominee, anti-crime advocate Martin Diño, withdrew his certificate of candidacy (CoC) for president.

 

The mayor, however, has yet to formally accept his party's nomination.

 

Meanwhile, National Unity Party (NUP) stalwart and Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles has thrown his support behind Duterte's possible candidacy even if the party has yet to choose whom to support in the upcoming elections.

 

Nograles said the country needs Duterte “to lead us to a better Philippines” with a “peaceful future.”

 

“In times like this when peace and order is sorely lacking... we need a leader who is decisive and not 'teka-teka' (hesitant), who wields an iron fist against transgressors of the law, but cares for the downtrodden and the victims, who is swift to actand results-oriented, and who comes from the Filipino masses with a heart that belongs to them,” he said.

 

With NUP still in the process of deciding whom to adopt as its presidential candidate in 2016, Nograles said he will push for his party mates to back Duterte's possible bid for president.

 

For her part, YACAP party-list Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez, a staunch ally of administration standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, said his camp is unfazed by Duterte's possible candidacy because his supporters are confident about the former Interior Secretary's credentials and campaign.

 

“We welcome Mayor Duterte’s entry to the presidential race, but we are not threatened. One thing is for sure, we have our own brand and strong campaign message and platforms of government to sell which are both anchored on the continuity of daang matuwid. Sec. Mar remains formidable and strong and the most qualified – legally, integrity and experience wise – among the presidential candidates,” she said.

 

Like Lopez, United Nationalist Alliance president Navotas City Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco said the prospect of Duterte's candidacy is not expected to deter their standard bearer, Vice President Jejomar Binay, from communicating his plans for the country to voters.

“That [Duterte's possible presidential run] is part of our democratic process. We respect his decision. VP Binay will just continue his consultations with the poor and explaining to them his programs that will uplift them from poverty,” he said in a text message. —ALG/BM, GMA News