PR | Posted on March 6, 2021 at 4:14 p.m.
For the second time around, President Rodrigo Duterte has publicly endorsed Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go as his candidate for the president for the upcoming 2022 presidential elections.
“Presidente, tindog og usab be, angayan ba ka (President, can you stand up, let’s see if it fits you),” Duterte during his speech in the National Task Force-Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in Northern Mindanao at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP) last Friday, March 5.
Senator Go who was one of the delegates stood when he was called by the President and waved to the people inside the venue.
This is not the first time that the President publicly endorsed Senator Go to be his candidate for president in the next year’s presidential election.
“I am very grateful for the trust given to me by the President. Salamat po sa tiwala pero hindi po ako interesado,” said Senator Go in a statement.
The Senator added that he is focusing on his job on public service to the Filipino people, “Meron pa tayong pandemyang hinaharap kung saan hirap na hirap na ang mga kababayan natin. Kaya unahin muna natin ang pagsilbi sa bayan at pagtulong sa kapwa.”
He also reiterated that he has no plans of running for a higher office, “Pagdating sa usapang pulitika, please count me out. Dahil kung hindi natin malampasan ang krisis na ito, wala na tayong pulitika na pag-uusapan.”
Senator Go was also publicly endorsed by the President during his visit to Tandag, Surigao del Sur to check on the relief efforts of the government after the devastation of the typhoon “Auring” in the area last February 22.
The Senator has been the right hand of the President since 1988, when he was still Mayor of Davao City.
With a clamor for continuity of the present administration’s programs, there’s a strong call for Senator Go to run for president with President Duterte as his running mate.
There is a growing campaign for a Go-Duterte tandem not only in Cebu but in the whole Visayas and Mindanao to continue the momentum of reforms that the President has implemented.
Go is the father of Malasakit Center in the Philippines which was launched in 2019.
He also is very active with visiting the grassroots especially during his visits to fire victims and other calamities.