Davao's Duterte mum on backing Noynoy, but it’s ‘an open secret’

DAVAO CITY—Incumbent Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Friday declined to confirm talks that he was supporting Liberal Party standard bearer Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. "That remains to be announced," Duterte told GMANews.TV when asked whose presidential bid he was backing. However, his campaign paraphernalia suggest otherwise. At the proclamation rally of the Dutertes' party, Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, Aquino's posters were plastered alongside the posters of the Duterte father-and-daughter tandem. Duterte is running for vice mayor, a post currently held by his daughter Sara, who in turn is hoping to assume her father's current post. The Liberal Party also held a motorcade to promote Aquino and running mate, Senator Manuel Roxas II, although the two candidates were not in Davao City. No less than Sara Duterte's rival for the mayoralty post, House Speaker Prospero Nograles Sr., revealed that the elder Duterte was supporting Aquino. "I am supporting Gibo [Gilberto Teodoro Jr. of Lakas-Kampi-CMD] because we are partymates. Duterte is supporting Noynoy," Nograles told GMANews.TV earlier in the day. Locals interviewed by GMANews.TV said it was an open secret that Duterte was backing the son of the late President Corazon Aquino, whom the mayor supported during her long fight against the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. "Hindi naman tago na si Noynoy (It's not a secret Duterte is supporting Noynoy)," said a market vendor. Davao City is the fourth-largest Philippine city in terms of population, with registered voters reaching to more than 940,000. Winning the clear support of its feisty mayor is considered a prize plum for any national-level candidate.—JV, GMANews.TV