Debate expected if Duterte chooses Marcos as VP bet —Koko Pimentel

The tandem of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is still not a done deal as far as the presidential aspirant's PDP-Laban is concerned, party president Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said on Thursday.

Pimentel, however, indicated that a team-up between the party's prospective substitute standard-bearer and Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was unlikely because of the group's history of being formed to fight the Marcos dictatorship in the 1970s.

“Hindi pa po binding yan (Duterte-Cayetano) but of course kung talagang si Alan Peter ang napupusuan ni Mayor Duterte as his running mate, napakabigat po nun," Pimentel told reporters.

"Pag sinabihan nya kami talaga formally nang ganun, I believe the entire party membership will fall in line,” he added.

Duterte, who declared earlier this week that he was running for president as a substitute candidate of the PDP-Laban, said on Wednesday that he was already committed to running with Cayetano as his vice presidential candidate.

Marcos indicated that talks between his camp and that of Duterte continued but the Davao City mayor said the son of the late former strongman was already spoken for as the running mate of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.

“Kung si Marcos ang sabihin nya, we will have to debate it,” Pimentel said.

“Marami kasing party members are still aware of the party history, anong pinaglaban namin, at ano pang pinaglalaban namin hanggang ngayon,” he added.

Pimentel said Duterte should choose a running mate that does not carry a burden.

“There will be a lively debate but again uulitin ko, the personal preference of the standard bearer carries a lot of weight. Syempre dapat kampante sya sa kampanya nya, dapat convenient, dapat hindi pabigat yung kanyang running mate,” Pimentel said.

Asked if he would object if Duterte would choose Marcos, Pimentel said he would wait for the Davao mayor’s decision before giving a statement.

“Hintayin ko na muna kung anong sasabihin nya then I will react when I hear the name. Pero step by step muna," Pimentel said.

"We will convince him next week, early next week to please file, huwag na hintayin yung Dec. 10. Hindi ko rin alam na gusto nya hintayin,” he added.

Pimentel said that he would meet Duterte on Monday.

“Meron kaming meeting sa Lunes which is a holiday and hopefully mag file na sana siya, pakiusapan ko si Mayor Duterte na wag na patagalin, kung pwede mag file na kaagad by next week,” Pimentel said.

He said the right time to discuss Duterte's running mate will be after he has filed his certificate of candidacy for president.

Pimentel said there is no rush to choose a vice presidential candidate as the campaign period is still in February.

“There’s really no rush from the point of view of the party. Wala na kaming magagawa. Tapos na po yung mga kandidato," Pimentel said.

"Nakataga na sa bato ang kandidato for vice president, the party has no candidate for VP so mamimili na lang kami sa mga naka file. So there’s no rush, February pa po ang kampanya,” he added. —NB, GMA News