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The President says choosinghis ownticket is the rightthing to do. He acknowledges thathe
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Palace defends Du3O's Senate slate
R0l'l fi
y Christine O. Avendafio
)loavendanoINQ
:'s more of a presidential slate
ran an administration ticket for
re senatorial elections in May.
On the eve ofthe start ofthe
rmpaign for national candi-
ates, tlle Duterte administra-
on still had no full slate for the
l Senate seats up for grabs in
te midterm elections.
It was a departure from the
I slate of the Aquino adminis.:
:ation s Team P-Noy in 2013 and
re ticket of the Arroyo adminis-
:ation's Team Unity in2oo7.
President Duterte told re-
orters on JarL 23 that he would
ave his own peBonal ticket be-
ruse it was "the right thing to do."
Mr. Duterte's 11
So far, Mr. Duterte has en-
orsed 11 senatorial aspi-
mts-four of the five candi-
ates of his Partido
remokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng
ayan (PDP-Laban), which
rakes it the administration
sis, it will be the.electorate who
will decidd."
The three slates consisted of
those from PDP-Labary his sup-
posed seriatorial slate and HNP.
Panelo said thq President had
potiticai adviser Francis To- come up with his own senatorial
lentino; and Maguindanao Rep. slate although he was chair of
zajid "Dong" Mangudadatu. PDP-Laban because it was his
The President has also pub- personal preference. "So, I don't
licly endorsed reelectionist Sena- think we can stop him."
tors Cynthia Vilar, ry Ejercito and He added that the Piesident
Sonny Angar4 former Senators was presenting certain candi-
tinggoy Estrada and Pia Cayetano, dates that he thought would be
Ilocos Norte Gov. hnee Marcos good material for the senate.
and singer Freddie Aguilar.
'Deep bench'
Quid pro quo If the President is support-
Mr. Duterte said he would ing three slates it means he has
support Villar, Cayetano, An a deep bench of senatorial
gara and Marcos because they hopefuls, according to Panelo.
supported himin the 2016 presi- He said not all candidates on
dential race. the slate that previous Presi-
He also said he would en- PERSONALCHOICE Former PN P Director General Ronald dents had endorsed had won.
dbrse Estrada whom he called a "Bato" dela Rosa is among the 11 senatorial candidates being "There is always somebody out-
"friend," and one of the 15 can- endorsed by President Duterte. -MAracAiaNG PHoro side ofthe slate that gets the aP-
didates ofHugpong ng Pag- probation of the people."
babago (HNP), the political par- Panelo defended the inclu-
ty of his daughter, Davao City Maguindadao province. ing his presidential bid in 2016. sion of Marcos and Estrada
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. The President called out Presidential spokesperson among the preferred candidates
On two occasions, the Presi- Mangudadatu's name while he Salvador Panelo on Monday of the President when asked
dent said Aguilar was his candi- was speaking about the possi- noted that Mr. Duterte had said about Mr. Duterte's strong
date because he was a "nation- bility of Maguindanao finding he would campaign for his "pre- stand against corruption.
alist" and had composed rele- oil in Liguasan Marsh. ferred candidates." Marcos is a daughter of the
but is out onbail.
'Debt ofgratitude'
Panelo said the President
was helping Marcos because he
was "indebted to her because
she is one of only two governors
who hetped him in the [2016
presidentiall campaign. His rea-
son was because he owed her a
debt ofgratitude."
Panelo noted thatlmee Mar-
cos had not yet been charged of
any crime.
In the case of Estrada, Pane-
lo said the son of former Presi-
dentroseph Estrada had not yet
been convicted of plunder.
Estrada is accused of Plun-
der and rr counts of graft for al-
legedly pocketing P183.79 mil-
lion from his Priority Develop-
ment Assistance Fund (PDAF)
allocation from 2oo4 to 2o1o in
the sctreme allegedly master-
minded by busin€sswoman
Janet Lim-Napoles in collusion
with lawmakers.
"And the Constitution saysl
unless you are convicted by fi-l
nal judgment, you are pre-l
srrme.l to be innocent. So thel
presumption is Estrada is inno-l
cent," he said. I

arty, and seven others.
The four PDP-Laban candi-
ates he is endorsing are his
lrmer aide Christopher Go; his
rrmer national police chief
.onald dela Rosa; his former
vant songs. Asked whether the Presi- late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Panelo also said Estrada wasl
Preferred dent's endorsement of Practi- who had been accused of amass- given provisional liberty froml
Mangudadatu "so ifyou become rich, do not catly three slates would affect ing ilt-gotten wealth of up to $5 the plunder case. showing thatl
On Monday night, Mr. Duterte forget us," the Presidentsaid. the chances qf administration billionduring his 20-year rule. "the evidence of guilt is nod
c+[ed Mangudadatu a senator in Also in his speech, the Presi candidates, Panelo said: "Well, Estrada is facing plunder strong." -wttx l nepo."."orr t,rl
a ppeech he delivered in Bulua4 dent thanked Marcos for support- you know in the ultimate analy- charges in the Sandiganbayan, QUIREiRESEARCH INQ
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