The former presidential bet of the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) Martin Diño attended the proclamation of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as the party’s official presidential and vice presidential candidates in next year’s polls.
Diño said that the PDP-Laban’s proclamation of the Duterte-Cayetano tandem marks the first time that he will personally meet the feisty mayor after he officially declared his intention to run for president.
The former PDP-Laban presidential bet said that he will urge Duterte to make the Philippines as safe as Davao City.
“I will congratulate him. And (remind him of) our campaign against illegal drugs, against criminality, our party program about federalism. I will ask him to make true of his promise of making the Philippines as safe as Davao City,” Diño told reporters in Filipino on Monday.
“Hopefully, what is being experienced by Davaoeños when it comes to peace and order would be felt by Filipinos, most especially those living in Metro Manila,” he added.
Meanwhile, Diño said that he respects the decision of those who filed disqualification cases against him and Duterte.
He said that lawyers of the party would handle the cases.
Diño withdrew his candidacy last Oct. 27 after the Commission on Elections sent him a letter to explain why he should not be declared as a nuisance candidate.
He then named Duterte as his substitute candidate.
However, the validity of his candidacy was questioned after it was found that in his certificate of candidacy, it was stated that he will be running for mayor as Pasay City and not as president.
Duterte, on his part, made his presidential bid official after he filed his CoC for president last Friday and named his daughter Sara Duterte as his substitute candidate for Davao City mayor.