Duterte: No need to hire image consultants

DAVAO CITY, Philippines  – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will not consult or hire image consultants for his presidential bid, saying he does not need a makeover just to please people.

“What you see is what you get. This is me,” he said.

“If they choose me, then good. If not, there is nothing I can do about it,” he added.

Duterte is known for being tough-talking and frank, sometimes to a fault.

He was lambasted for cursing at Pope Francis during a proclamation rally where he spewed profanity over the traffic jams caused by the papal visit in January last year.

He also drew flak after he admitted that he is a womanizer and that he killed over 1,700 criminals, including drug addicts.

Duterte apologized for cursing at the pope and promised to give P1,000 to Caritas Davao for every profanity he would utter. 

While Duterte said he does not need an image consultant, he has a campaign team.

Duterte’s campaign team yesterday started to convene in Grand Regal Hotel to discuss mechanisms to ensure his victory in the presidential race.

Mayor Leoncio Evasco of Maribojoc, Bohol, the campaign manager of Duterte, said the composition of the team is wide-ranging and draws strength from the experiences of the nationwide listening tour on federalism that Duterte embarked on early last year.

Evasco said the goal in setting up the campaign machinery is to mobilize the widest support for Duterte by reaching out to all Filipinos all over the country and abroad. 

But Duterte’s vice presidential running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, admitted that the disqualification cases filed against the mayor have also affected their campaign.

At a press briefing held in Taguig City yesterday, Cayetano said that there were some local officials who raised concerns about the disqualification cases filed against Duterte since these have not yet been resolved.

“We would be hypocrites if we say that this issue does not come up or some people don’t ask. It affects our candidacy in terms of local. There are a lot in the local who are for Duterte, but there are some who have been asking when the disqualification cases would be settled because they don’t want to support a candidate who doesn’t have a good chance of winning,” Cayetano said.

Broadcaster Ruben Castor, disqualified presidential aspirant Rizalito David and University of the Philippines Student Council chairman John Paulo delas Nieves have asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to cancel Duterte’s certificate of candidacy because his substitution for Martin Diño as standard  bearer of the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban was invalid because Diño’s COC was defective.

Diño had indicated that he was running for mayor of Pasay City and not for president so he could not be substituted by Duterte in the presidential race.

The Comelec in full session has recognized the substitution, but the poll body’s First Division still has to rule on the disqualification case filed by Castor in November. David and Nieves lodged their petition in December.

The First Division has resolved to consolidate the three disqualification cases against Duterte, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said yesterday.

Cayetano said that the case of Duterte is different from the disqualification cases filed against presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe.

He explained that Poe’s cases involved substantial issues since it deals with constitutional requirements such as her citizenship and residency. In the case of Duterte, it was more procedural because it deals with his being a substitute presidential candidate for Diño. 

“We’re confident that the Comelec will uphold his candidacy, his COC and if not, the Supreme Court is there,” Cayetano added.

Cayetano also noted that the current presidential election is somewhat unique in the sense that there are no clear leading candidates as far as the surveys are concerned. – With Marvin Sy, Sheila Crisostomo