Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III — national president of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) — announced on Mon, Feb 15 that the tandem of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano will not have a senatorial slate.
“Pimentel made the annoucement during the Samahang Plaridel’s Kapihan sa Manila Hotel,” reports Jeannette I. Andrade in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Pimentel said, “We made the decision there (in Davao). The PDP-Laban Duterte-Cayetano campaign team has decided we will not be endorsing any senatorial candidate.”
To make sure everyone got the message, Pimentel reiterated, “Fact is, PDP-Laban has no senatorial candidate. So we have no obligation to support a campaign for senatorial candidates. The official position is: No senatorial candidate anymore for the Duterte-Cayetano team.”
Pimentel explained that “the decision not to endorse senatorial candidates was to allow PDP-Laban to concentrate on campaigning for the two candidates and to gain ‘portability.'”
PDP-Laban has only “tolerated” and “welcomed” senatorial candidates in the Duterte-Cayetano campaign rallies. “But they do not have the right to get angry if they are not allowed to speak, especially if the two main candidates are there,” Pimentel pointed out.
