PH’s Duterte thinks his personal aide will win as senator in next election

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday hinted that his top aide, Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, would run for senator.

Duterte said Go, his long-time aide, would make a good senator because he is a “bright man.”

“Tingnan mo, mananalo ‘yang senador, si [Bong]…Aysus, pusta tayo…Matalino ito, sa totoo lang,” Duterte said in his native Cebuano during the 16th founding anniversary of the Supreme Tribal Council for Peace and Development, Inc. in Davao City.

[Look, he will win as senator, Bong… I’ll bet on it… He’s bright, to be honest.]

Responding to Duterte’s latest comment on his potential Senate bid, Go said he is happy to receive the president’s “endorsement” but he wants to work for now and refrain from talking about the elections.

“He is my adviser, my mentor, and my boss. I am very, very happy to be endorsed by Mayor Rody. Nawawala ang pagod ko kahit 24 [hours] mag-trabaho (My tiredness goes away even if I have been working for 24 hours a day.). But it is still too early to talk about politics. Humbled, challenged and motivated, mag du-duty muna ako kay boss at sa kapatid nating Pilipino (I will work first for my boss and to our Filipino brothers and sisters.),” Go said in a message to reporters.

Go has been Duterte’s aide for about two decades. Used to the low-key life as the long-time Davao City mayor’s right-hand man, he was thrown into the national spotlight when his boss was elected as president in 2016.

The President’s supporters, including several Cabinet officials, have been urging Go to run for Senate.

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a stalwart in the PDP-Laban party, said Go will be included in the ruling party’s Senate slate for 2019.

Go, however, has been coy on a possible Senate bid. He had earlier said Duterte will have the final say on whether he will run or not, adding he wants to serve the President until his death.