Bongbong open to tandem with Duterte

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  – Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he is open to a possible tandem with Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the May 2016 elections, although who would run for president or vice president still has to be settled.

“Whatever position Mayor Duterte would want, I would support him. We still have seven more weeks to go and it’s a long time. Many things could still happen,” said Marcos, who arrived here yesterday for a series of engagements.

Marcos explained that he is still weighing his options for the 2016 polls, but stressed that he is definitely supporting the mayor. 

Reports say an alliance between the Nacionalista Party (NP) and Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban is in the offing and will be endorsing Duterte should he opt to run for president in May 2016.

NP stalwart Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano earlier virtually endorsed Duterte for president, fuelling speculations that an alliance between Duterte’s PDP-Laban and Cayetano’s NP is in the making.

 Cayetano was personally invited by Duterte to attend the opening of the 30th Kadayawan Festival last Monday. It was during the program that Cayetano pointed to Duterte as having the edge over other presidential aspirants because there is a genuine clamor for the Davao City mayor to seek the presidency in next year’s elections.

“Duterte’s case is unique because there’s a genuine clamor from the people asking him to run,” Cayetano later said in a press conference, describing the case as somewhat different to that of Sen. Grace Poe and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who rely on surveys and their friends’ urging them to run.

He added that he remains clueless as to who Duterte will pick as his running mate if he decides to join the presidential race next year.