Thursday, March 11, President Rodrigo Duterte announced during the inauguration of a port building in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, that he wished his aide, Senator Bong Go to run for the Presidential seat this coming election.
According to Duterte, during their flight heading towards Negros Oriental, Go asked him for a favor after they got off the plane.
“Sabi niya medyo it leaves a bad taste in the mouth, malayo pa e, pero ikaw na lang ang magsabi sa kanila,” Duterte narrated.
“Sabihin ko, ang totoo talaga, isang bagay lang, sabihin daw sa inyo, gusto niya (Bong Go) maging Presidente,” the President added.
This announcement from the President drew negative reactions from celebrities and Netizens.
Former PBB: Connect housemate, Justin Dizon took to twitter to express his disgust on the desire of Go to run for the Presidential seat.
YUCK YUCK YUCK YUCK YUCK https://t.co/TVBsuxsyfQ
— Justin Dizon (@iamjustindizon) March 11, 2021
Theater, TV, and film actor-director Bart Guingona also has some banter toward the Presidential aide.
Guingona wrote on twitter that the early campaign for Presidential daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, is doomed since Duterte is gearing for Bong Go to run for President.
Meanwhile, Guingona also concurred that since Go will be running for the Presidency, Duterte will be running for the Vice President position.
So the “run! whatshername! run!”campaign is doomed because papa wants blackteeth to be prez while he slides to vp. Is that what’s playing out?
— Bart Guingona (@guingonabart) March 11, 2021
And with the sudden announcement of Duterte, musician Patricia Lasaten threw some sarcasm on the plate.
She wrote on her twitter account that people will now act as if they were shocked about the revelation.
https://twitter.com/patlasaten/status/1369964151204835334
A Netizen ridiculed Bong Go’s desire to become the leader of the country. According to @ItsArveeDepuno, the senator should stick with being the President’s aide since he is good at it.
https://twitter.com/ItsArveeDepuno/status/1369968528040726535
A Netizen also concluded that Bong Go running for President and with the support of Duterte would only mean that the incompetence and the corruption will continue once the senator wins the election.
So that incompetence and corruption continue, NO! #EpalNaGo #NoToBongGohttps://t.co/X6mxtvlgGc
— Hanash Daily #KikoBam2025 #HeidiSonny2025 (@BIENsays) March 11, 2021
Environmental movement advocate Paeng Lopez also threw some jabs at Bong Go.
According to Lopez, the senator is good at being a janitor, a driver, a health product agent, and most importantly, a maid. With that Lopez also, satirically said that Bong Go would be the perfect leader since Filipinos are looking for a public servant, a literal servant.
https://twitter.com/paengLopez/status/1369962658624020480
A Netizen was also disgusted; he wished that other De La Salle University alumni should be President, except for the senator.
Jusko lord. Kung magkakaroon nung unang presidente na graduate ng DLSU, wag naman siya pls. https://t.co/AOcQIAfMsW
— Marmee (@ThatKidMarmee) March 11, 2021
Another Netizen encouraged Filipinos to vote wisely since Bong Go has Duterte backing him up. With him having a greater chance of winning the presidential seat, Filipinos should wake up and unite for the greater good.
Alam mo yung masaklap? Mananalo siya. Kung magpapatawag ng halalan ngayon, panalo ito.
May oras pa, ngunit tumatakbo ito nang mabilis. Kilos na tayo! Matauhan na tayo sa mga pagkakawatak-watak natin! https://t.co/i8zzuiRmcs
— Paul Roset (@paulandreiroset) March 11, 2021
Meanwhile, journalist Lian Buan took the perfect time to post an article of Rappler regarding Bong Go’s frequent appearances on the state media to update the coronavirus as a form of his electoral campaign.
Timely to reshare this article by @piaranada | Bong Go regularly given airtime in state media broadcasts on coronavirus https://t.co/d2YlNdY4tl
— Lian Buan (@lianbuan) March 11, 2021
The article dubbed the senator as ‘epal’, who got featured in almost every episode of Laging Handa PH aired by the government-owned media, PNTV.
The show is a public briefing supposed to be dedicated to COVID-19. It also mentioned that Go got premium exposure and coverage in almost every episode of the program.
In the said program, Go was featured since episode 21. Now, the show has over 61 episodes and the senator has been in each one of them. This meant that the senator got two hours of cumulative exposure from these episodes, which was again, supposed to be for coronavirus briefings.
With private news channels airing the program, the senator’s exposure grew exponentially. Also, the article revealed that the senator has been the most shown or mentioned public official.
