Duterte to poll bets: Don’t terrorize voters, I can campaign for you

MANILA, Philippines —President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said aspirants in the coming May elections need not terrorize voters as he is willingly campaign for them.

“If you want— kung kandidato ka, tagilid ka, huwag mong i-terorismo. Tawagin mo ako, kakampanyahan kita. Wala akong partido,” Duterte said during the birthday celebration of his former political adviser and now senatorial candidate Francis Tolentino.

(If you want — if you are running and your chances are slim, do not terrorize [the people]. Call me and I’ll campaign for you. I do not belong to any political party.)

“Sabihin ko, ‘Pag hindi nanalo itong kandidato ko, patayin ko kayong lahat dito (I will say this: if this candidate does not win, I’ll kill all of you here),'” he added.

Though he claimed that he does not belong to any political party, Duterte is the chairman of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

He also won in the 2016 Presidential elections as the official standard bearer of PDP-Laban.

In the same speech, Duterte also belittled frontrunners of the recent Social Weather Station survey on the senatorial race.

“Alam mo, nagkamali lang ‘yung tao pero (You know, they just made a mistake) […] Iyong nangunguna sa survey. Susmaryosep (The one leading the survey, my goodness),” he said.

“May mga tao dito na dedicated, may alam, abogado, at kung inutusan mo, you take care of Bicol at that time. He was there for almost two weeks nagtrabaho (There are people here who are dedicated, they know something, a lawyer, and if you tell him, say, to take care of Bicol, he will work there for almost two weeks),” he added. /ee

READ: Duterte belittles senatorial ‘survey front-runners’