Duterte: Cayetano has to work harder

Vice Presidential candidate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano listens to his running mate presidential candidiate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte during a visit at the Provincial Capitol of Rizal on Monday, March 7, 2016.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Davao City Mayor and presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte said he would not abandon his running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano despite lagging behind other vice presidential bets in recent preference polls.

But Duterte admitted that Cayetano has to double his efforts to improve his numbers in survey rankings.

“I am always with him. I won’t abandon him,” Duterte said in their sortie in Valenzuela City on Wednesday.

“We have to work harder. Alan has to work harder,” he said.

Cayetano trailed other vice presidential candidates in the latest Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations Survey, namely Senators Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and Camarines Sur Representative Leni Robredo.

READ: Marcos, Escudero share top spot for VP in SWS poll

But Duterte, whose camp said they are eyeing a frontrunner status for their standard-bearer, had nothing but support for Cayetano, calling him as “the most decent person to have entered politics.”

The tough-talking mayor previously said voters who would not vote for his running mate should not vote for him as well. CDG

READ: Poe, Binay share lead; Escudero, Marcos ‘statistically tied’—Pulse Asia