Pimentel: Duterte-Marcos tandem ‘doubtful’ if…

Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel on Thursday said a tandem between Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is “doubtful” if members of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) will be reminded of their party’s roots.

Pimentel said PDP-Laban was formed in opposition with the Martial Law, which was enforced by Marcos’ father and namesake.

“That’s doubtful, because PDP-Laban, we were organized in the martial law period precisely to fight for our civil liberties, to fight for democracy; so [the tandem is] doubtful if party members remember our history. That’s why we also have to educate them or remind what the party history is,” Pimentel said in an interview with ANC Headstart.

Pimentel said vice presidential aspirant Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano remains to be the “top seed” as Duterte’s running mate in next year’s polls.

READ: Bongbong Marcos: Coalition with Duterte still possible | IT’S OFFICIAL: Duterte, Cayetano team up for 2016

Despite previous declarations of lack of interest, Duterte on Saturday announced that he will seek the presidency in the 2016 elections after the Senate Electoral Tribunal junked the petition to disqualify presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe over citizenship issues.

The tough-talking mayor topped a privately commissioned survey by Pulse Asia of presidential aspirants conducted among Metro Manila residents.

READ: Duterte: My candidacy for the presidency is now on the table | Duterte leads in Metro poll

As to the legal issues hounding Duterte’s presidential bid, Pimentel said the public can’t expect the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to create an issue on its own out of a “minor clerical error.” Duterte is expected to be the substitute of Martin Diño, who mistakenly filed his certificate of candidacy for mayor of Pasay and not for president.

The Comelec previously expressed that Diño may also be regarded as a nuisance candidate.

“When the error was discovered by the Comelec on Oct. 16 upon filing, we said we want to change it, they said it was a minor clerical error, no need for you to change it. So let the paper stand as it was submitted. It’s a minor technical objection, so we welcome it. But we are not worried,” Pimentel said, noting that they are expecting all kinds of opposition.

“The Comelec can’t create its own controversy and question the COC. Kasi para siyang judge lang diyan… The COC with an error is Martin Diño’s COC, that will soon be replaced by the COC of Mayor Duterte. We just have to make sure that that COC is perfect,” he added.

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