President Rodrigo Duterte with House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Sen. Bong Go. File photo / ACE MORANDANTE / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday referred to himself, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go and House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano as the “brightest stars” of the current Philippine politics.
“Si Senator Bong, Speaker (Cayetano), we are the brightest stars today kung tingnan ka sa political na langit at makikita mo kami shining,” Duterte said in his speech during a visit at at Taguig City’s Center for the Elderly.
(We are the brightest stars of Philippine politics today. If you can see we’re shining.)
However, Duterte was quick to acknowledge that “in about two years’ time that light would dim and I would be nothing.”
“Ganun ang buhay [That’s life]. There is a time for everything in this world. A time to be young and a time to be old,” he added.
Go, Duterte’s trusted aide, rose to fame when he became the President’s Special Assistant. With Duterte by his side, he finished 3rd in the recently May 2019 midterm elections, preceded only to veteran Senators Cynthia Villar and Grace Poe.
Cayetano, meanwhile, was Duterte’s losing vice-presidential partner in 2016. He won in the May elections as Taguig-Pateros Representative.