Duterte endorses 11 senatorial bets; drops Jinggoy Estrada

BULACAN, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte formally endorsed his senatorial line up for the 2019 midterm elections.
Five senatorial aspirants from the ruling party PDP-Laban made it to Duterte’s list.
They are named by the acronym – ‘MaBaGoKoTo”.
‘Ma’ stands for Mangudadatu referring to the Maguindanao 2nd District Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu.
‘Ba’ stands for Bato referring to former PNP and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Chief Ronald dela Rosa.
‘Go’ stands for Go referring to former Special Assistant to the President Christopher ‘Bong’ Go.
‘Ko’ is for Koko, the first name of reelectionist Senator Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel;
‘To’ is for Tolentino, referring to former Presidential Political Adviser Francis Tolentino.
In addition to his five party mates, the President also named seven guest candidates on his lineup of senatorial bets.
They are Senators Cynthia Villar, Sonny Angara and JV Ejercito; Taguig Representative Pia Cayetano; Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos; and music icon Freddie Aguilar.
“Maraming bisaya dito. Kapag natalo itong mga kandidato ko, balikan ko kayo,” the President said in jest during the initial campaign rally in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.
“Salamat ha. Ako si Rodrgo Duterte. I am a government worker. Kaming lahat nasa gobyerno nagtratrabaho para sa inyo,” he said to the audience.
The senatorial hopefuls in return promised the President that his trust will not be in vain as they vowed to support the advocacies and programs of the government particularly in eliminating corruption and illegal drugs.
“Twenty-one (21) years po akong nagserbisyo kay Pangulong Duterte,at sa Pilipino. Asahan ninyo po serbisyo din po ang katapat niyan,” vowed Go.
“Ang numero ko kasi sa balota 24 (so) bente kwatro oras na serbisyo, bente kwatro oras na proteksyon, na pagmamahal,” promised Dela Rosa.
Meanwhile, former senator Jinggoy Estrada’s name was notably missing from the President’s lineup of senatorial bets.
President Duterte did not even mention Estrada’s name during his speech, some observers said.
In an ambush interview following the campaign sortie, President Duterte said it was too late when he was informed about Estrada’s senatorial bid.
“Too late. They gave me the signal too late. Actually, about almost a year ago I was already forming the ticket,” he said.
Overall, Duterte has 11 senatorial candidates on his list for the 2019 midterm polls. – Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rosalie Coz / Nestor Torres)