Bato dela Rosa: Duterte running for senator has PDP-Laban members excited

Members of the PDP-Laban are excited about the thought of former President Rodrigo Duterte running for senator, Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said on Thursday.

Dela Rosa thus said when asked in an interview if Duterte would run for office if the International Criminal Court pushes through with its investigation on the killings attributed to the 

“Isa yan sa posibilidad. Puwedeng mangyari kasi narinig ko na ‘yan sa meeting meeting naming… halos majority ng aming kasamahan sa partido ay gustong tumakbo si Pangulong Duterte and everyone is excited kung tumakbo sya. The final say is with the former president,” Dela Rosa said, referring to the PDP-Laban faction led by Duterte.

(That is one of the possibilities. I’ve heard that already in our political party’s meeting. The majority of us in the party want former President Duterte to run and everyone is excited about it, but the final say is with the former president.)

Dela Rosa said Duterte’s candidacy will not be to shield him from the ICC investigation.

“Di naman niya kailangan ng additional protection pero sa kanya lang is siguro just to make sure that he can still contribute towards nation building ng ating bansa. After six years term as president baka pakiramdam niya mayroon pang naiwan sa kanya na pwede pang i-share sa ating kababayan na hinahanap hanap naman ng ating mga kababayan,” Dela Rosa, a loyal ally of Duterte, said.

(He doesn’t need additional protection but maybe he wants to make sure that he can still contribute towards nation-building in our country. After his six-year term as president, maybe he feels that he can still share something with our countrymen which our countrymen also want.)

“Baka mag-give in s’ya don, to that pressure para tatakbo siya. Pero as I've said, wala pa s’yang final decision pero maraming akong narinig na kasamahan ko sa partido na everyone is excited to the possibility of him running as senator in 2025,” he added.

(He might give in to that pressure. But as I have said, he has not made his decision yet. But everyone in our party is excited about the possibility of him running as a senator in 2025.)

Duterte and Dela Rosa are both subjects of the ICC investigation due to the alleged abuses during the former president’s implementation of his anti-illegal drug campaign.

Dela Rosa served as Duterte’s first chief of the Philippine National Police. —NB, GMA Integrated News