Palace: No endorsement of presidential bet yet even after Duterte-Bongbong meeting

President Rodrigo Duterte has not endorsed a potential successor even after he recently met with survey frontrunner Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Malacañang said Friday. 

On Thursday, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte's longtime aide, said the President and Marcos had a productive meeting, with the chief executive sharing his experiences as the country's leader.

Go said Duterte also gave Marcos some advice during the meeting, which happened before the PDP-Laban faction identified with the President announced its support for Marcos' presidential bid.

At a news conference, acting deputy presidential spokesperson Kristian Ablan was asked how the meeting should be interpreted and whether Duterte would endorse Marcos, the running mate of his daughter and vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte.

"Whether or not this can be interpreted as an endorsement? Of course, the President has not endorsed any candidate. A meeting was just arranged and they met, President Duterte and [former] Senator Marcos, but there is no endorsement insofar as Malacañang is concerned," Ablan said. 

Ablan also said Duterte was not scheduled to appear at a proclamation rally on Friday.

Last month, Duterte said he would not support any presidential candidate unless he saw what he called "a compelling reason."

More recently, Duterte said the next president should be compassionate and a lawyer like him. — VBL, GMA News