Presidential aspirant and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno on Tuesday revealed the reason why he didn't bring with him his running mate Dr. Willie Ong during his recent campaign sorties in Mindanao.
In a chance interview, Moreno said he did not want to put Ong in an awkward position and bring him to a place that already has a preferred vice-presidential candidate.
There were many supporters who paired Moreno with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is also running for VP, in the areas they visited.
"Ayaw namin siyang mapahiya. You don't want to put your partner, if you're true to your partner, baka maalanganin ka lang kasi may iba naman silang preferred candidate," Moreno said.
[We don't want to embarrass him. You don't want to put your partner, if you're true to your partner, on the unsure ground because they have a different preferred candidate.]
Moreno's statement mirrored an earlier remark of his campaign manager, Lito Banayo, who said that it was his personal call not to include Ong in their Mindanao campaign.
However, this irked netizens and accused the Manila Mayor of dropping Ong in order to benefit from Duterte-Carpio, who is the running mate of presidential bet Bongbong Marcos.
But Moreno assured the public that the Isko-Willie tandem will still go on until the May 2022 elections.
