MANILA — An ally of President Rodrigo Duterte, Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone, endorsed on Monday Vice President Leni Robredo's bid for the highest elected post in May's elections.

Evardone said Duterte's recent remarks on the traits his successor should have was “a virtual endorsement of Vice President Leni Robredo.”

Duterte over the weekend said the next president should be compassionate and decisive, a good judge of character, and preferably, a lawyer.

“We welcome and support the high bar President Duterte has set for his successor. He knows whereof he speaks, and we understand it. It is the same standard with which he tries to measure himself in governing the nation,” Evardone said.

“For me and for millions of Filipinos, there is only one decisive and compassionate lawyer among those aspiring to be President and she is VP Leni,” he said in a statement.

Evardone is the vice president for the Visayas of Duterte's party, PDP-Laban.

The Duterte-backed wing of PDP-Laban was left without a standard-bearer after Sen. Christopher Go dropped out of the presidential race.

Duterte and Robredo have sparred over various issues, including government's response to the COVID-19 crisis and his war on drugs.

Evardone said Robredo "has been very consistent on her pro-poor programs and advocacies." He added she "was always there to help our people" during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We will need a President who is determined and forceful in addressing these issues but at the same time one who has compassion for all affected sectors, especially the poor. It’s VP Leni who fits the bill,” he said.

Robredo said the endorsement was "important" to her, considering that she was not the frontrunner in election surveys.

"Marami pa akong kailangan gawin para makahabol and yet, naglalakas-loob nang magpahayag ng suporta. Ito ‘yong klase ng suporta na talagang papahalagahan mo kasi in difficult times, nakikipaglaban na para sa ‘yo," she said in a press conference.

(I still need to do many things to catch up and yet, people are already brave enough to express support. This is the kind of support that you will really value because in difficult times, they are already fighting for you.)

Robredo on Monday also secured the backing of Governor Danilo Fernando of vote-rich Bulacan province.

Meanwhile, PDP-Laban Secretary General Melvin Matibag of the Duterte-backed faction said he had yet to talk with Evardone about his endorsement of Robredo.

"If it were true, his endorsement boils down to personal choice and not the PDP Laban Party chaired by President Duterte," Matibag said in a statement.

He said the party would support a presidential candidate who would continue the Duterte government's infrastructure drive, corruption fight, anti-narcotics campaign, and Malasakit Centers, among others.

• Robredo says to fight drugs as intensely as Duterte, but with different approach
• VP Leni wants to continue, improve Malasakit Centers

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