Isko remains hopeful Duterte will endorse him

STA. ROSA, Laguna —Presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno on Wednesday said he remains hopeful that he will receive the endorsement of President Rodrigo Duterte despite the support for Bongbong Marcos Jr. of a faction of the PDP-Laban.

Duterte is the chairman of the PDP-Laban faction under Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. He has yet to openly endorse any presidential candidate for the May elections.

“I’m still hopeful na makuha ko ang boto niyo lahat dito… ordinaryong PIlipino sa basketball court na ito at ‘yung iba pang tao. And that includes the president,” Moreno said in an ambush interview.

(I’m still hopeful that I will get all the votes here… of the ordinary Filipino in this basketball court and the votes of other people. And that includes the president.)

“Kasi, ang boto ng boom man at ang boto ng presidente ay pareho ang bilang, so isa lang. So dito, sa dami ng tumatakbo, marami kami… bawat isang boto na makukuha natin is dagdag at bawas naman ito sa kabilang dako,” he added.

(Because the vote of the boom man and the vote of the president have the same count. They’re both one. So each vote that I get is one minus vote for the others.)

Moreno also said the endorsement was “good” for Marcos.

“Una, maswerte si… dating Senador Ferdinand Marcos. Talagang anak-pinagpala siya. Napakabwenas niya, no? With all the resources, the name of his father na dala-dala niya, at ngayon nadagdagan pa siya ng isang pwersa, good for him,” he said.

Estate tax debt

Moreno also borrowed a previous statement issued by the former senator in urging him to pay for his family’s estate tax debt amounting to P203 billion.

“Ang sabi niya, ni dating Senador Ferdinand Marcos Jr., ang kailangan natin ngayon, ng tao daw ay trabaho. Eh kung ibabayad niyo ‘yung P203 billion marami tayong trabahong maibibigay,” Moreno said.

(What former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said is that the people need jobs. If he pays the P203 billion, we can give jobs to a lot of people.)

He said that with the P203 billion, the government may feed 59 million individuals every day.

“Kapag nasingil natin ‘yung P203 billion, makapagpapakain kain tayo araw-araw, this is literal, araw-araw, ng tao, 59 million na tao at P34 na kumakain ng isang Pilipino na dalawang sakong bigas sa isang taon,” he said.

(If we retrieve the P203 billion, we can feed every day, this is literal, 59 million and two sacks of rice worth P34 yearly.) 

Grand rallies

Moreno was also asked if he was bothered by the number of people attending the rallies of other presidential candidates.

“Meron din naman kayong team sa kabilang presidential candidate, diba? Meron din kayong counterpart. ‘Yung nakita mo kahapon sa pinuntahan natin, ‘yun din ba ‘yung nakita mo ngayon? Happy na ako ng ganon,” Moreno said.

When asked if it was same people attended rallies of his rivals, Moreno said, “Hindi ko alam, kasi nga wala naman ako doon. Pero may bali-balita.” 

“Ang maganda doon sa ginagawa nila, maa-achive nila ‘yung perception na malakas sila kasi marami sila dahil may drone shot…. basta sa akin boto na lang, sa kanila na ‘yung picture,” Moreno said.—LDF, GMA News