Manny Pacquiao meets with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. PHOTO FROM DUTERTE’S FACEBOOK PAGE
Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao was not included in the Liberal Party (LP) senate slate as he “prefers” to run under the ticket of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte should the latter decide to run in the 2016 presidential race, a ranking LP official said on Monday.
“Si Congressman Pacquiao ang kanyang preference dahil s’ya po ay taga Mindanao, ‘pag tumakbo si Mayor Duterte, doon po s’ya tatakbo as a member of the Senate slate,” Senate President Franklin Drilon, vice chairman of LP, said in an interview at the Senate when asked what happened with LP’s talks with Pacquiao.
(Because he is from Mindanao, Congressman Pacquiao’s preference is to run as a member of the Senate slate of Mayor Duterte if [the latter] runs.)
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In the case of Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista’s non-inclusion in the slate, Drilon said the mayor himself decided to just finish his last term in the city.
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But despite Paquiao’s non-inclusion in the LP ticket, the Senate leader said the Muslims in Mindanao would still be represented in the party in the person of Department of Interior and Local Government Assistant Secretary and former Maguindanao officer-in-charge Nariman Ambolodto.
Drilon confirmed that Ambolodto and Coop-Natcco Party List Representative Cresente Paez would be part of the 12-man slate of the LP.
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“These are sectoral representatives of very critical sectors in our country kaya po amin silang pinili para mabuo ang aming 12 slate sa Senado,” he said.
(These are sectoral representatives of very critical sectors in our country that’s why we chose them to be a part of our Senate slate.) IDL