Presidential aspirant Seator Bong Go. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines —“Sa ngayon, baka hindi ko pa po panahon,” Senator Bong Go said Thursday as he contemplates his 2022 presidential bid, expressing his willingness to make the “supreme sacrifice” for the good of the country.
Three weeks after throwing his hat on the 2022 presidential race, Go admitted that he continues to “seek guidance from the Divine Being since the Presidency is a matter of destiny.”
“Kung para sayo ‘yan, para sayo talaga ‘yan,” he said in a long winding statement.
(If you’re meant for it, you will get it.)
But the past few days, he admitted: “that my heart and mind are contradicting my own actions.”
“Tao lang po ako na nasasaktan at napapagod din. O baka dahil sadyang napakarumi at ganun kainit lang talaga ang pulitika. Talagang nagreresist po ang aking katawan, puso at isipan. Pati po ang aking pamilya ay nahihirapan,” he said.
(I am only human who gets hurt and tired. Or maybe politics is just so dirty and heated. My body, heart, and mind are really resisting. Even my family is suffering.)
“Pero sa ngayon, baka hindi ko pa po panahon,” Go added.
(For now, maybe it is not my time yet.)
He said he is the kind of person willing to make a sacrifice to avoid conflicts and spare President Rodrigo Duterte any burden and pain. Go was a long-time assistant of Duterte before becoming a senator.
“Ako yung taong handang magsakripisyo para wala nang maipit, masaktan at mamroblema. Ayoko na pong mahirapan si Pangulo at yung mga supporters natin. Mahal ko po si Pangulong Duterte. Matanda na rin po siya at ayaw ko siyang bigyan pa ng dagdag na problema,” he continued.
(I am the kind of person who is ready to make a sacrifice so that no one gets hurt. I don’t want the President and our supporters to be burdened. I love the President. He is also already old and I don’t want to give him more problems.)
Go said he is leaving his fate to God and the Filipino people, reiterating he is “willing to make the supreme sacrifice for the good of our country, and for the sake of unity among our supporters and leaders.”
The senator initially filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for vice president but eventually withdrew to avoid facing off with Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio who filed her COC for the same post via substitution on November 13.
Go evneutally filed his COC for president under the Pederalismo ng Dakilang Dugong Samahan (PDDS), an allied party of the ruling political group PDP-Laban.
President Duterte had pushed the tandem of Go and Duterte-Carpio, even endorsing it to a bunch of lawmakers during a dinner meeting. However, his daughter opted to be the running mate of Ferdinand “Bongbong Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.