Duterte tells Ilocanos to choose which Ilocano leader they want in Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Voters may select which Ilocano they want to install in Malacañang, President Rodrigo Duterte said, as he heaped praises on his Ilocano appointees whom he said constitute the majority of his Cabinet members.

Speaking during last Friday's inauguration of a farmers market in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur, a known bailiwick of the Marcoses, Duterte said only three or four people in his Cabinet are Visayans while the rest are Ilocanos.

"Kaya ibigay ko na lang ito isang buwan aalis na ako sa Malacañan, mamili na kayo kung sinong Ilocano na lider ilagay ninyo doon (That's why in a month, I will leave Malacañan, you choose which Ilocano leader you will put there)," the president said.

Duterte did not mention any presidential candidate during his speech but enumerated his Ilocano appointees in the government, some of whom are retired military officers. He said "almost 12" of his Cabinet members are former military officials.

"You should not be surprised actually... My close friends are Ilocanos, they shared the dormitory with me," the president said, referring to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay.

"The majority of them are Ilocanos because they are bright and handsome men," he added.

Duterte said the husband of his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is an Ilocano from Paoay in Ilocos Norte. Carpio is running for vice president under the UniTeam alliance led by presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the Ferdinand Marcos.

Last November, Duterte, who allowed a hero's burial for the former president despite protests from Martial Law victims, called the younger Marcos a "weak leader" and rejected a possible coalition between his and his daughter's political parties.

"I am not impressed by him. He is really a weak leader," Duterte said in mixed Filipino and English during a meeting with local leaders in Oriental Mindoro last November 19.

"He is really weak because he was a spoiled child, only son.  Of course, he can talk. He delivers English, articulate. He studied outside (the country). But if say, there is a crisis? He is a weak leader and he has baggage," he added.  

Earlier this month, Duterte said all candidates running for president are qualified but he is not endorsing any of them “at this time.”

“Unless there is a compelling reason really for me to change my mind and decide to support a candidate,” the president said in a public address last  Feb. 7.