Is President Duterte eyeing the vice presidency or a lower elective post in the 2022 elections?
(KING RODRIGUEZ / PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, the President is actually looking forward to the end of his six-year term and his return to his home province of Davao.
Roque claimed that the proposed Duterte-Duterte tandem in 2022 floated by Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo was just his "personal opinion."
The President, elected in 2016 on the promise to fight drugs and corruption, will end his six-year term on June 2022.
“Ang pagkakaalam ko atat na atat na si Presidente na matapos ang kanyang termino at gusto niya nang umuwi dito sa Davao (What I know is the President is eager to end his term and he wants to return home to Davao)," Roque said during a televised press briefing when asked if the President is running for vice president or any other position in 2022.
Panelo earlier expressed hopes that President Duterte will agree to run for vice president while his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte will go for the presidency in the 2022 elections.
The former presidential spokesman expressed confidence that such presidential ticket would be unbeatable, noting it will leave their rivals in the dust. Recently, Panelo said the opposition has kept mum about the possible Duterte-Duterte ticket since they don't know how to react to such powerful tandem.
Panelo maintained that although the President is prohibited by the constitution to seek reelection in 2022, Duterte may seek a lower elective post like the vice president. Citing an example, he noted that former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ran for congresswoman in her home province of Pampanga.
Neither the President nor his daughter commented on Panelo's idea, which has been apparently welcomed by some supporters.