Palace floats Sara Duterte’s possible bid for president
Credit to Author: CATHERINE S. VALENTE, TMT| Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 16:28:30 +0000
Like father like daughter, Malacañang on Friday floated the idea of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio seeking the country’s presidency.
Speaking to reporters, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte-Carpio, or Inday Sara as she is commonly called in Davao City, was very competent, smart and very much stricter than her father, President Rodrigo Duterte.
Panelo made the statement as he dismissed speculations that the younger Duterte was using government resources in campaigning for the Senate slate of her regional party, Hugpong Ng Pagbabago.
“Definitely, naku si Mayor Sara pa, napaka-istrikto niyan [Mayor Sara, she is very strict]. You know what the people there in Davao City said when she was mayor until now, mas istriko pa yan kay Mayor Digong yang si Mayor Sara lalo na sa mga expenses [Mayor Sara is very much stricter than his father particularly when it comes to expenses],” he told a news conference, using the President’s nickname.
“I will not be surprised if she becomes president of this country after her father,” Panelo said.
He added that the mayor had many admirers and supporters who provided funds for the campaign of her party’s slate.
“There are many admirers and supporters of Mayor Inday Sara. In fact there’s even a movement launching her to be the next president. Maraming bilib sa kanya eh [There’s many people who believe in her],” Panelo said.
“They see in her the character of the father. Magaling, matalino, matapang. Mas matapang pa nga kay Presidente daw eh [She’s very competent, smart and brave. She’s in fact very much braver than her father]. So natural lamang sa mga kaibigan niya at sa kaibigan ng mga kaibigan niya na suportahan yung mga causa niya kasi hanga sila kay
Mayor Inday Sara [So it’s natural for her friends and the friends of her friends to support Mayor Sara on her cause because they admire her],” he added.
But the younger Duterte, despite her strong survey numbers and public clamor, has repeatedly said she was not running for a national post.
It was reminiscent of Rodrigo Duterte’s bid for the presidency in 2016, in which he had repeatedly said he would not run for office, despite a public campaign called “Duterte for President Movement” urging him to run.
The President’s daughter earlier said she was planning to seek reelection as Davao City mayor in the May 13 midterm elections.
Duterte-Carpio heads Hugpong ng Pagbabago, a regional party to coalesce support for the President’s agenda.
The party endorsed 13 candidates but there are only 12 Senate seats in the mid-term polls.
The 13-member slate is composed of Senate reelectionists and returnees Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Cynthia Villar.
New names in the line-up are former Philippine National Police chief Ronald de la Rosa, former special assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, Maguindanao Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu, former reporter Rodrigo “Jiggy” Manicad and former Palace political adviser Francis Tolentino.
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