PDP-Laban not giving up on Duterte

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Even if Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has declared many times that he is not seeking the presidency next year, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is not yet giving up hope that the local executive would change his mind and file a certificate of candidacy (COC) before the deadline on Friday.

Duterte declared in a press conference on Monday that “indeed it is a beautiful day to end a wild dream” and that his “destiny is not to become president.”

But PDP-Laban, the political party he belongs to, is hanging on to a sliver of hope as party president and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III maintains that Duterte would file the COC for the presidency. Duterte has always been nominated by PDP-Laban in his previous forays in the political arena that saw him undefeated when he ran for mayor six times and once each for vice mayor and congressman.

“We assume that he will file, so up to the last minute, we will hope,” Pimentel said.

He stressed that PDP-Laban will only find another presidential candidate to support once it becomes clear that Duterte is not running for president, which would be known after the deadline lapses.

“If the period ends without Duterte filing a COC for president, then the party will start its own soul searching for the presidential candidate it will support,” Pimentel said of PDP-Laban’s predicament in next year’s polls.