Pacquiao says Duterte indirectly endorsed him

Sen. Manny Pacquiao welcomed President Duterte’s decision to stay neutral and sees his refusal to endorse his daughter’s running mate for president as an indirect endorsement of his own bid for the presidency.

Explaining his view, Pacquiao said Duterte’s decision not to endorse any presidential candidate – particularly Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – has given him an advantage as the only Mindanaoan and Visayan-speaking candidate like the President.

“That’s a big deal because no one else is running (for president) from Mindanao. In a way, it’s like he’s endorsed you (a fellow Mindanaoan),” the senator said in Filipino, interpreting Duterte’s refusal to endorse any candidate as an indirect rebuke of Marcos. He said staying neutral is an obvious manifestation of the President’s dislike for Marcos, who is the running mate of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Pacquiao added: “What I mean is, he (Duterte) does not like it. If you have a vice, a drug issue, an issue with corruption; when he’s already said he does not like corruption, he hates drugs... how could he endorse one who is so?”

The boxer-turned-senator was referring to Duterte’s having once criticized Marcos as a “weak leader” and seeming to have alluded to him as “one presidential aspirant who used cocaine.”

Pacquiao said he believes Duterte wants to endorse a candidate for president, but has chosen to be quiet about it in deference to his daughter who is seeking the vice presidency in tandem with Marcos.

Responding to the statement of Sen. Imee Marcos questioning the timing of the raging controversy on their family’s unpaid P20-billion estate tax, Pacquiao said that this issue has been going on for some time now.

He said the only way for the Marcoses to settle the issue is for them to pay the Bureau of Internal Revenue.