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'Beyond any principled choice': Isko's camp hits PDP-Laban's Marcos Jr. endorsement

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Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The chief strategist of Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Isko Moreno Domagoso on Tuesday criticized the decision of a PDP-Laban faction to endorse the presidential bid of former Sen. Ferdinand &quot;Bongbong&quot; Marcos Jr., saying the move was &quot;beyond any principled choice.&quot;The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) and the Lakas ng Bayan (Laban) were two parties formed in the 70s and 80s to oppose the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., said Lito Banayo, Domagoso&#x27;s chief campaign strategist.&quot;How a PDP-Laban can now support the candidacy of the son of the nemesis of their party&#x27;s founding fathers is beyond any principled choice,&quot; he said.Marcos Sr. critic and late Sen. Aquilino &quot;Nene&quot; Pimentel founded PDP, while Laban was formed by former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., who was assassinated during the Marcos regime.Prior to the PDP-Laban faction&#x27;s support for Marcos, Domagoso has been vocal about seeking the endorsement of President Rodrigo Duterte and his party.Duterte, who earlier said he prefers to have a neutral stance in the upcoming 2022 elections, has yet to personally endorse a candidate even if his daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is running for vice president.&quot;I cannot second guess the president,&quot; Banayo said.&quot;That is up to him whether he acts according to the decision of the PDP-Laban secretariat.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/19/22/isko-moreno-seeks-nod-from-dutertes-pdp-laban">Isko Moreno seeks endorsement from Duterte&#x27;s PDP-Laban in presidential bid</a></li></ul>Duterte&#x27;s decades-long aide and Sen. Christopher &quot;Bong&quot; Go was earlier named as PDP-Laban standard bearer, but backed out of the race last year, saying he did not want to be caught in the middle of the President and his daughter.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/30/21/bong-go-quits-presidential-race">Bong Go drops out of presidential race</a></li></ul>Duterte-Carpio joined the Lakas–CMD and is supporting the presidential bid of Marcos Jr.Banayo said he would raise several questions should the President later endorse Marcos Jr.&#x27;s candidacy.&quot;Marami na siyang (Duterte) nasabi sa kandidatong ito. Paano mo babaliktarin &#x27;yung nasabi mo na dati?&quot; he said.(Duterte has said so many things about this candidate. How will you recant that?)Duterte earlier described Marcos Jr. as &quot;weak&quot; and &quot;spoiled&quot;. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/21/21/dutertes-criticisms-vs-marcos-could-badly-affect-saras-vp-run-analyst">Duterte&#x27;s criticisms vs Bongbong Marcos could badly affect daughter&#x27;s VP bid: analyst</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/18/21/duterte-one-presidential-bet-is-into-cocaine">Duterte says one presidential contender into cocaine; a &#x27;very weak leader&#x27;</a></li></ul>The Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer will continue to woo voters from one village to another with or without an endorsement either from Duterte or PDP-Laban, Banayo said.&quot;Tao naman ang nagdedesisyon,&quot; he said.(It&#x27;s up to the people to decide.)&quot;It is not about LGUs (local government units). It&#x27;s not about parties. It&#x27;s whether you connect to the people or not,&quot; he said.In 2016, nearly all congressmen and governors were not allied with the then-Davao City mayor months before the May elections, said Banayo, who handled Duterte&#x27;s presidential campaign.&quot;Nagsampahan na lang &#x27;yan [mga pulitiko] one week before the elections,&quot; he said.(Those politicians just joined one week before the elections.)Banayo also shunned grand rallies, saying Domagoso&#x27;s supporters can show campaign for the Manila mayor either &quot;quietly or noisily.&quot;&quot;Hindi namin ginagawa yung naghahakot ng tao. Sa social media may nagsabi na pumunta na siya sa Cavite [rally], pumunta pa siya sa Pasig [rally], tapos pupunta pa siya sa Makati,&quot; he said.(We don&#x27;t like pooling people. On social media someone said that he went to a Cavite rally, also went to Pasig, and still plans on going to Makati.)Banayo did not mention a candidate&#x27;s name, but Vice President Leni Robredo recently made headlines earlier this month for gathering hundreds of thousands of supporters in recent sorties.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/07/22/hindi-bayad-robredo-camp-refutes-accusations-it-paid-cavite-rally-attendees">&#x27;Hindi bayad:&#x27; Robredo camp refutes accusations it paid Cavite rally attendees</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/03/20/22/campaign-rally-ng-leni-kiko-tandem-sa-pasig-dinagsa">#Halalan2022: Campaign rally ng Robredo-Pangilinan tandem sa Pasig, dinagsa</a></li></ul>&quot;Hindi ba niloloko mo sarili mo na &#x27;yung kinakausap mo &#x27;yun at &#x27;yun din, hinaharap mo, &#x27;yun at &#x27;yun din?&quot; he said.(Isn&#x27;t that like fooling yourself because you&#x27;re just speaking to the same crowd over and over again?)<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/02/24/22/why-some-duterte-supporters-back-isko-sara-candidacies">‘Least baggage’? Why some Duterte supporters back Isko, Sara candidacies</a></li></ul>

Marcos Sr. critic and late Sen. Aquilino 'Nene' Pimentel founded PDP, while Laban was formed by former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., who was assassinated during the Marcos regime.

'Beyond any principled choice': Isko's camp hits PDP-Laban's Marcos Jr. endorsement

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'Beyond any principled choice': Isko's camp hits PDP-Laban's Marcos Jr. endorsement

Katrina Domingo,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 22, 2022 07:12 PM PHT

Read More:

Isko Moreno

Bongbong Marcos

PDP-Laban

Aksyon Demokratiko

Lito Banayo

Halalan 2022

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