If Duterte wants Sara-Go tandem, it will be PDP-Laban’s direction — Cusi

A faction of the ruling PDP-Laban will push for the tandem of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and Senator Bong Go as its standard bearers if this is what President Rodrigo Duterte says, party president and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said Monday.

“If we are going to take the [President’s word], when he said that Sara-Bong Go na, then it will be like that,” Cusi said in an ANC interview.

However, he said they have yet to discuss this with the President’s daughter.

Cusi mentioned PDP-Laban’s previous resolution which authorized Duterte to name his candidates to the posts that the party has not filled up yet.

He said “it is a possibility” that Sara could be PDP-Laban’s standard bearer for Eleksyon 2022, adding that the President’s remark on the Sara-Go tandem was apparently to “entice Mayor Sara to throw her hat in the national presidency.”

While Sara previously said she will rise and fall with her regional political party —Hugpong ng Pagbabago— Cusi said it is also possible that the presidential daughter can rejoin the party to push for the Sara-Go tandem as she was already their former member.

In case Sara decides not to run for president, Cusi expressed confidence that PDP-Laban could still field their candidate for the country’s top post.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte is wishing that Sara will eventually seek the presidency in 2022 with Go as her running mate.

“I have no information if they (President and his daughter) talked to each other beforehand. The President has said he wants Mayor Sara to run with Senator Bong Go,” Roque said.

“That is his wish,” he added.

Roque also reminded the public that certificates of candidacy filed are not set in stone. “All lawyers know that certificates of candidacy (COC) can be withdrawn.”

Bongbong?

In addition, Cusi did not discount the possibility of having former Senator Bongbong Marcos as their presidential bet for the upcoming polls, but this will still depend on the decision of the party.

“If it’s a question of possibility, it is possible. But would it happen? That remains to be seen,” he noted.

Cusi said the PDP-Laban will talk about these matters in a meeting later in the day.

Last Saturday, Go filed his certificate of candidacy for vice president under PDP-Laban’s banner.

It was President Duterte who was supposed to run for the post, but he said he will not push his plans to vie for the vice presidential seat due to the overwhelming sentiment of the people.

Sara-Go

After the filing of Go’s COC, Duterte said in an ambush interview that they will push for the “Sara-Go” tandem.

On the same day, however, Sara filed her COC for reelection as mayor of Davao City.

‘No comment’ was her reply when asked about the Sara-Go tandem.

In a previous interview, Sara said she has an agreement with her father that only one of them will run for a national post in next year’s polls.

Meanwhile, Go had admitted offering himself to be Sara’s running mate should the latter decide to run for president in the 2022 elections. — with Llanesca T. Panti/RSJ, GMA News