Former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. INQUIRER file photo / LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines — “Our candidate for president is Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.”
Lakas-CMD party announced this on Monday as several groups push to pair vice presidential candidate Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio with other presidential candidates and not her running mate Marcos. Duterte-Carpio chairs Lakas-CMD.
“The Lakas-CMD extends our fraternal greetings to all political groups that have come out in the open to express their support to our Vice Presidential candidate, Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte,” Lakas-CMD said in a statement.
“We do not condone, however, efforts of certain groups to pair Mayor Inday Sara with other Presidential candidates. Lakas-CMD has entered into an alliance with the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) for the May 2022 elections, and we are committed to honor it,” the party added.
READ: Cebu groups form alliance to support Isko, Sara in May polls
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Lakas-CMD also affirmed its support to the senators included in the slate of the Marcos-Duterte tandem, which has dubbed themselves as the UniTeam.
Currently, there are 11 confirmed candidates in the UniTeam’s senatorial slate including:
- Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri
- Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian
- House Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta
- Larry Gadon
- House Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda
- Former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada
- Former Public Works Secretary Mark Villar
- Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque
- Former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro
- Former Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista
- Former Sen. Gringo Honasan
Last week, Duterte-Carpio said there are now 12 senatorial candidates in the UniTeam, as she included the name of actor Robin Padilla in the list.
However, Marcos later said that Padilla is not part—or at least not yet part—of the slate.
READ: Marcos-Duterte confusion? So is Robin Padilla in or not?
READ: Marcos camp insists Robin Padilla not part of UniTeam: We only have 11 Senate bets
“Let us all embrace the call for unity which the BBM-Sara Uniteam help promote in their conversations with our people throughout the campaign period,” Lakas-CMD said.