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 2^nd 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)

Tags: 2019 Midterm elections, PDP-LABAN, President Rodrigo Duterte, senatorial line up

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang defended President Rodrigo Duterte from critics who are claiming the President owes part of his presidential win from religious groups.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said, even during President Duterte’s time as mayor of Davao City, he did not seek support from church leaders for himself and will definitely never do it for the admin candidates in the 2019 midterm polls.

“The President never asks help from any specific religion. What he does is he expresses himself and he tells us why he is doing this and that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Malacañang is appealing to all candidates to strictly abide by election policies to ensure an orderly, peaceful and honest elections in May.

“Every government, every administration, always appeals to the candidates to strictly observe the election laws. We have to have clean, honest, fair, credible elections,” Panelo noted.

He also assured that the President is not using any government fund to push the campaign of admin candidates.

What he is doing, Panelo stressed, are all verbal endorsements.

If ever an opposition candidate wins the election, Panelo said it does not infer that the President’s endorsement power is dwindling .

“It only means when an opposition candidate wins, it means an expression of the electorate telling them that we are putting you there to cooperate with this administration because we believe in this presidency, and not you to destabilize it,” the Presidential Spokesperson concluded. – Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rosalie Coz)

Tags: President Rodrigo Duterte, religious groups

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte hinted that he will fire two officials of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) due to corruption and negligence over a land reform application that was stalled for two years.

“Ah may tanggalin ako sa—dalawa — sa DAR. An application that was long delayed, two years sa opisina nila. That is corruption to me” the President said during the groundbreaking of a hospital in Malabon on Tuesday (January 29).

The Chief Executive warned the two to resign or face charges.

He added that he will not allow delays in the processing of documents unless the officials can justify them.

“I will ask them to resign or else I will file charges against them and I will see to it they will get their comeuppance,” the President said. – Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rosalie Coz)

Tags: corruption, Department of Agrarian Reform, President Rodrigo Duterte