Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said it would be a waste if Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque abandons his Senate bid in the 2019 elections.
On Oct. 5, President Rodrigo Duterte said Roque will not win if he decides to run for a seat in the Senate and offered him a new job instead.
READ: Duterte tells Roque to forget Senate run; offers him new job
In an interview with DWIZ, Pimentel said Roque could be nominated as the new chairman of Senate committee on foreign relations, noting that he is an expert in international law.
“Sayang namn si Secretary Harry Roque kasi isa yung abogado tapos expert sa international law. Graduating na si Sen. Loren Legarda na chair namin sa foreign relations so tamang tama na posibleng manominate si Sec. Roque, kung maging senador siya to head the foreign relations,” Pimentel said on Saturday.
(It would be a pity if Secretary Harry Roque would not run for Senate because he is a lawyer and an expert in international law. In fact, Sen. Loren Legarda is graduating for her seat in foreign relations so it would be possible that Harry Roque would be nominated. If he would become senator to head the foreign relations.)
Pimentel added that Roque’s expertise on international law could help in the country’s independent policy, bilateral agreements and free trade agreements under the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
“Sayang. Eksaktong eksakto sana kasi dumadami na kasi may independent foreign policy tayo at marami tayong bilateral agreements. Tapos ang uso ngayon sa larangan ng Train ay free trade agreement so yan yun sayang malaking kawalan kung hindi tatakbo si Sec. Roque,” he said.
(It is a pity. Now that we have independent foreign policy and a lot of bilateral agreements. Also, on the train law, the free trade agreement is being talked about so it would really be a loss if Sec. Roque will not run for Senate.)
But Pimentel, president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), reiterated that it would be Roque’s decision if he will pursue his Senate ambition. He added a slot in the PDP-Laban is reserved for Roque.
“Basta ang pagtakbo sa election is a personal decision. Hindi po yan pwedeng pilitin kasi ang mismong COC [certificates of candidacy] kailangan ng pirma ng taong tumatakbo so ang tanong na yan must be answered by Sec. Harry Roque pero kung gusto niya tumakbo open na open ang slot ng PDP-Laban sa kanya,” he said.
(Running in elections is a personal decision. We cannot force them to run because in the certificates of candidacy, the candidate will be signing the documents so the question would only be answered by Harry Roque but if he would like to run for Senate, a slot is open for him in the PDP-Laban.)
On Oct. 4, Pimentel revealed that possible PDP-Laban Senate bets have been trimmed from 24 to five or six candidates. /muf
READ: PDP-Laban Senate bets down to 5 or 6 – Pimentel