President Duterte on Tuesday reiterated that his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, is not running for president in next year’s polls despite calls from various sectors.
In a situation briefing with local officials in Auring-hit Surigao del Sur, the President said that “Inday Sara is not running.”
“I’ve really, really put my foot down. Naaawa ako sa anak ko (I pity my daughter),” he told local officials who were there to discuss with the President and his Cabinet men of the status of their relief operations in the wake of Typhoon Auring.
Duterte was responding to the call of Surigao del Sur Governor Alexander Pimentel who said that someone must continue the achievements of the present administration specifically in the fight against insurgency in the region.
“Me personally, I am very, very worried that your term would be ending. Sayang ang achievements na ginawa natin. Ano ang mangyayari sa amin pag wala na ang protection ‘pag natapos ang term mo? Request po namin may continuity dapat sa administration. So, kumbinsihin natin si Inday Sara or Senator Bong Go (Our achievements will go to waste. What will happen to us without your protection when your term ends? Our request is to have a continuity from the administration. So, we must convince Inday Sara or Senator Bong Go),” Pimentel told Duterte during the meeting, which was aired on state-run PTV4.
He is worried that someone else becoming president will resurrect the region’s problems with insurgency.
But Duterte reiterated that his daughter, who repeatedly put down calls for her to run for president, will not join next year’s polls because of how dirty politics is in the country.
Various groups have been pushing the Davao City mayor to run as president in the 2022 polls even as the younger Duterte repeatedly denied plans to be the administration’s presidential bet. Her supporters hang tarpaulins with the words “Run, Sara, Run” in different provinces and cities around the country.
In a survey conducted by OCTA Research from January 26 to February 1, Duterte topped the poll with 22 percent of the respondents saying they will vote for her, followed by Senator Grace Poe with 13 percent, Senator Manny Pacquiao and former Senator Bongbong Marcos with 12 percent, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno with 11 percent, and Senator Bong Go with six percent, and Vice President Leni Robredo with five percent.