IN clear defiance of her father’s wishes, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said she will announce her political plans next month, about three months before the start of the official filing of candidates of their Certificates of Candidacy.
Clearly, Mayor Sara is nobody’s man – or woman in her case. It would take more than her dad, the President, to dissuade her from running for the country’s top post amid what she aptly claimed as strong public clamor.
“Pinag-iisipan kasi a lot of people are asking me to reconsider my decision not to run for president,” the presidential daughter was quoted as saying in a televised interview.
According to Mayor Duterte, the governors of the regional party she founded Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) gave her until July to decide.
“I decided in January and I was asked to extend it until 30 April, then by 30 April, I was asked to extend it until July,” she averred.
The young Duterte warded off criticisms of her making “pakipot” as part of the same political strategy that his father had before he joined the 2016 presidential derby.
“There is no script. Right now, I am contemplating about it carefully because the job of a president is not easy,” she added.
There won’t also be a Duterte-Duterte tandem – “Duterte-Duterte tandem will never happen. PRRD already said his reasons why he doesn’t want me to run for president.”
When asked as to whom she prefers to be her running mate, Duterte said: “All of them are my friends. Ang dami-dami kong kaibigan from 2010, 2016, 2019 elections. So lahat sila mga kaibigan ko. Siguro mag-decide muna kung tatakbo ba talagang pangulo, bago pag-isipan ang vice president. But I’m happy na kakampi ko sila,” referring to former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, former Senator Bongbong Marcos, and Senators Imee Marcos and Sherwin Gatchalian.