Deputy Speaker Camille Villar, April 23, 2024.  Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File 

MANILA — Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas campaign manager Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco on Monday said Deputy Speaker Camille Villar remained a member of its slate despite online posts showing she also got the endorsement of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Tiangco answered in the affirmative when asked if Villar was still a member of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s slate despite the endorsement which had yet to be confirmed by both the Villar or Duterte camps.

"The five-party Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas composed of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Lakas-CMD, National People’s Coalition (NPC), National Unity Party (NUP), and Nacionalista Party (NP) is intact," Tiangco said in a separate statement. Villar is a candidate of the NP.

Tiangco noted that “in any election every bit of support counts."

"Our candidates continue to receive overwhelming support both at the national and local level, and even from grassroots organizations. This is something that we welcome and we are proud of because politics is about addition, not division. It is about building coalitions,” he said.

"Ang bawat pag-endorso na makukuha ng bawat kandidato ng Alyansa ay patunay na pagtango at pagyakap sa Bagong Pilipinas na isinusulong ng ating Pangulo. And that is what matters most," he added.

Tiangco maintained that President Marcos picked his candidates for their track record.

"Ang mga kandidato na Alyansa ay personal na pinili ni Pangulong Marcos dahil sa kanilang mahusay na kakayahan at matatag na karanasan. The Alyansa candidates are part of the administration slate because they are committed to the vision we all share: Bagong Pilipinas,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr still has trust and confidence in the administration’s bets for the May polls, the Palace said.

“Sa kanyang mga kandidato, definitely yes,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said. 

But she declined to comment on reports that Duterte was endorsing the candidacies of Villar and the President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos.

“Lahat po ng question patungkol po diyan ay si Congressman Toby,  na lang po ang sasagot,” Castro said.

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