Sara sees unity after Bong Go's withdrawal from presidential run

Vice presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said Thursday that she is seeing unity among administration supporters as a result of Senator Christopher "Bong" Go's withdrawal from the 2022 presidential race.

"Now that Sen. Bong Go has declared his withdrawal from the presidential race and to quote him, 'for the sake of unity among our supporters and leaders,' tuloy-tuloy na po tayo sa ating pagkakaisa kasama ang BBM-SARA Uniteam upang tayo ay magtagumpay sa ating hangarin para sa bansa," Duterte said in a statement.

(We can now continue forging unity for the Bongbong Marcos-Sara (BBM-Sara) Uniteam for the achievement of our goals for the country.)

Duterte, who is running for vice president under Lakas-CMD, said that she has since sought the support from the supporters of the Duterte administration so that the programs of her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, can be continued.

"Matapos kong inilunsad ang aking kandidatura pagka Bise Presidente ng Pilipinas, nanawagan po ako sa lahat ng sumusuporta ng administrasyong Duterte na magkaisa sa ating layunin na ipatuloy at palawakin pa ang mga magagandang nasimulan ng aking ama." 

Last Tuesday, Senator Go announced that he would withdraw his bid for president, saying that his family apposed his presidential run.

Also, Go said that he does not want to put President Duterte in a difficult situation. 

But until now, Go has not yet formally withdrawn his presidential bid.

Earlier, Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez noted that Go could no longer be substituted as his case was a voluntary withdrawal.

Cunning move

But for Makabayan senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares, Go's move is a desperate Machiavellian attempt to salvage the Marcos-Duterte alliance, which he said is falling apart.

In a Facebook post, Colmenares said, "The withdrawal of Sen. Bong Go from the presidential race is just a desperate Machiavellian attempt to salvage the crumbling Duterte-Marcos alliance."

"It was clear from the start that he had very little chance to win and that the President was just using him as leverage to get as many concessions as possible from Ferdinand Marcos Jr. We all know that Go is not just some assistant-turned-senator, but rather Duterte’s chief political operator," Colmenares pointed out. —LBG, GMA News