DAVAO CITY: A day after Mayor Rodrigo Duterte met vice presidential aspirant Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, another rumored VP wannabe--Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.--was in town to seek the mayor’s “wise counsel.”
Duterte and Marcos met behind closed doors in a hotel here around 9 p.m.
The agenda? Politics.
“Obviously, we talked about politics,” Marcos told reporters who waited until the meeting was over around midnight.
When asked separately, Duterte also said their meeting was all about politics.
“We talked about politics and chances of every candidate in the coming elections,” he added.
Duterte said Marcos asked for his help.
“He asked for some advice on what he should do. He was asking for my help,” according to the mayor.
Marcos also admitted seeking Duterte’s enlightenment on his political direction.
“I came here to ask for the mayor’s advice,” he told reporters. “I just needed to talk to somebody whose advice is genuine.”
Duterte’s supporters have been clamoring for him to run for President. Marcos was among the names being floated as his possible running mate.
On Tuesday night, Duterte met with Cayetano over dinner.
The mayor later said Cayetano will surely “wipe out” all other vice presidential aspirants.
Obviously, Cayetano wanted Duterte to be his partner, saying the mayor is surely “worth the wait.”
The Duterte-Marcos tandem, however, was not discussed on Wednesday night.
“We discussed the tandem long time ago. It was not discussed today,” Marcos said. “The filing of candidacy is coming, and I need to make a decision. I have already sought his political advice before and this is a continuation of that.”
That he will run for Vice President is something that he still has to decide on.
“Well, I will announce that very soon,” Marcos said.
Duterte, meanwhile, said he will get in touch with Marcos once he finally comes up with a decision.
“I promised Senator Marcos to get in touch with him in the coming days. We are about to cross the Rubicon [to take a decisive step],” he added, apparently referring to the October 16 deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy.