Bong Go wants to be president? Palace says Duterte only joking

President Rodrigo Duterte was only just joking when he said that Senator Christopher "Bong" Go has expressed his intention to run for president, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Friday.

“I will quote Senator Go: Parati naman pong nagbibiro ang ating President para merong light moment,” Roque said in a press conference during the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination in Ilocos Norte.

(The President loves telling jokes, making light of the moment.)

Go is a trusted aide of Duterte ever since his days as mayor of Davao City. He was the President's "special assistant" until he won a Senate seat in 2019.

Duterte bared Go's supposed intention to become president during a speech at the inauguration of a port in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, on Thursday.

Roque said the Duterte administration's priority is to accelerate the COVID-19 vaccination program so that the country can be placed under eased restrictions at the soonest possible time.

“Ngayon po, ang members of the Cabinet, kani-kaniyang assignment na masiguro na mabakunahan ang medical frontliners at magpabakuna ang ating mga kababayan. ‘Yan po ang marching order ni Presidente,” he said.

(Members of the Cabinet are given specific tasks to ensure that our medical frontliners and the rest of the population will get the COVID-19 vaccine.)

The Philippines started its COVID-19 vaccination on March 1, the last one to do so among 10 Southeast Asian nations.

The country has only 1.12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far from Sinovac and AstraZeneca, donated by the Chinese government and global initiative COVAX Facility, respectively.  —KBK, GMA News