Malacañang said that President Duterte has five individuals in mind whom he wanted to run for president in the 2022 elections.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the statement following the clamor for Duterte to pursue the vice-presidency next year.
In his press briefing on Thursday, Roque said President Duterte has still not decided on a final name but said the latter had many options.
"Noong kinausap ko po siya diyan ay wala pa siyang desisyon. Meron lang mga options siyang sinabi (When I talked to him about it, he didn't have a decision yet but he had options)," he said.
Roque enumerated the names of the people in President Duterte's mind:
- His daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio
- Acting PDP-Laban president Senator Emmanuel 'Manny' Pacquiao
- Manila Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso
- Defeated vice-presidential candidate and former Senator Bongbong Marcos
- His long-time aide Senator Christopher Lawrence 'Bong' Go
According to Roque, President Duterte has not been able to choose his anointed one yet because he was still busy addressing the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as this was important to ensure a safe election.
"Nakatutok pa rin ang Presidente po dito sa pandemya, sa bakuna (The President is still focused on the pandemic, the vaccines)," he said.
"Ang importante naman ay mabakunahan ang pinakamarami nating kababayan nang sa ganoon magkaroon talaga tayo ng eleksyon kung saan ang mga tao at ang kandidato ay magkakaroon ng pagkakataon na magkaroon ng panayam at makaboto nang pinakamabuting mga kandidato ang ating electorate (What's important is we vaccinate the majority of our people so we can have an election where the candidates and the public can have the opportunity to communicate and to allow the electorate to pick the best candidate)," he added.
PDP-Laban, the President's party, has recently adopted a resolution urging Duterte to run for vice president next year.