EDITORIAL - If Bong Go wants to be president, he must be his own man first

Last month President Rodrigo Duterte said his close friend, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go wanted to run for president in 2022. Go has since dismissed the statement as another of President Duterte’s numerous jokes that we common folk just don’t seem to understand.

We really shouldn’t take too much stock in denials. After all President Duterte denied he was running for president until he said he would, and Go also denied he was running for senator until he did.

But then who are we to say Go should not run? It’s a free country after all and Go is doing a better job as senator compared to others who have been in the Senate longer.

But if Bong Go wants to be president, he has to be his own man first.

Why do we say he has to be his own man? Because the way he acts right now it seems he is still acting as more a personal aide to the president and less of a senator of the republic.

When Go was elected to the Senate he became one of the men tasked with passing laws that would make life better for the Philippines and contribute to national development. His role as “special assistant” to the president was essentially over. However, it seems he never really let go of that role.

Don’t get us wrong. There is nothing wrong with being loyal to a friend. There is nothing wrong with sticking with an ally who has been with you through thick and thin. In fact we need more people who do. But the way Go hovers over President Duterte, you would think he is still the president’s aide as opposed to being a senator of the republic.

And the way people see it now, even if he runs for and is elected president, they will get the impression Go will always be beholden to and eagerly following the lead of his dear old friend.

If Go wants people to seriously look at him as presidential timber, he must get out from the shadow, or really stop being the shadow, of the president.