Sara Duterte pulls for Pimentel, 'brains' of DU30 in the Senate

Davao Mayor Sara Duterte on Monday called on voters to use their "kokote" and vote for PDP-Laban President Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, referring to her fellow lawyer as the brains of her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, in the Senate.

Speaking at the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) rally in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, the the Davao mayor quoted the TV advertisement of Pimentel, telling the audience to "use your kokote" (use you head) in choosing their senators in the May 2019 midterm national elections.

According to Duterte, Pimentel deserved the people's votes because the 1990 Bar topnotcher is "ang utak ni President Duterte, the brains of President Duterte dyan sa Senado."

"Kailangan, sabi nya, kumilos agad tayo para umunlad ang Pamilyang Pilipino. Suportahan natin si Senator Koko Pimentel!"

Pimentel served as Senate President during the President's first years in Malacañang. Under his watch, he helped the President fulfill many of the Administration's promises with the passage of laws that provide free college education (RA 10931), free Irrigation (RA 10969), lower personal income taxes (RA 10963), increases in PNP and AFP base pay of PNP and AFP (Jt. Reso. 1, s. 2018), the reduction of red tape in the bureaucracy (RA 11032), the extension of passport validity to ten years (RA 10928), and the extension of the validity of drivers' licenses to five years.

"I am humbled by the kind words of Mayor Sara, a fellow Mindanaonon leader I respect immensely," said Pimentel.

"As one of several candidates from Mindanao, I hope her endorsement of myself and my partymates will help increase representation of Mindanao in the Senate, so that we can push for laws and programs that will benefit the regions outisde Metro Manila," added the Cagayan De Oro native.

The reelectionist senator was recently endorsed by the President himself, who in the PDP-Laban kick-off rally last Thursday in Bulacan told voters to support Pimentel because "Bar topnotcher ito e. Mahusay. Honest. Lahat nakuha niya."

The President likewise said that Pimentel, the son of former Senate President Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel Jr., is "a worthy son of a great father."

The elder Pimentel is known as the father of the Local Government Code, and was the first Interior and Local Government Secretary after the Edsa Revolution in 1986.