DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio here bared Monday that there are still people, including a high-ranking official of her father’s administration, pressing her to run for president despite her firm stance that she is not running for the highest position in the country.
“This is conversation that happened yesterday. This official told me that he could not believe it, and that he was praying that I would still change my decision,” she said.
Mayor Sara also said that she is different from her father, President Duterte, who decided to file his candidacy at the last minute as a substitute candidate in the 2016 presidential election.
In her program over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5), Mayor Sara said that she does not intend to succeed her father, who will step down on June 30, 2022.
She said that she will not copy the style of her father if she ever decides to run for president.
“President Duterte and I are different. We are not the same person. If that was his style, mine will be different. If I will run, I will let you know ahead of time, and I will ask now you to unite and help me out not only in the campaign and election but also in my work (as president). That is what I am going to do, but I’m not doing it because I don’t have any intention of running,” she said.
As a non-member of any national political party, she said that she will be prohibited from running as a substitute candidate.
She asked her supporters to use their money to buy food for the people in need instead of spending it on printing of tarpaulins and organizing motorcades.
Mayor Sara told supporters to just move on, asking them to stop urging her to run. She served as vice mayor from 2007 to 2010, mayor from 2010 until 2013, elected mayor again in 2016 when her father ran president, and re-elected in 2019.
“Before January 2021 ended, I already said that I do not intend to run for president in 2022. But I noticed that people don’t believe me or they refuse to believe me…We cannot move more forward if you don’t believe me. This is why, we are at a standstill,” she said.