DAVAO CITY – Vice presidential aspirant and Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte called on all supporters of the Duterte administration to unite amid the reported rift created when administration allies Senator Christopher “Bong” Go and former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos went separate ways with both seeking the presidency in the May 2022 polls.
In a recorded video posted on her Facebook page on Tuesday night, Nov. 16, Duterte told her supporters that the "fight has just started."
"Alam ko na mahaba at mahirap ito pero kampante ako na sasamahan at tutulungan niyo ako hanggang sa dulo hanggang maipanalo natin ito para sa ating mahal na bayan at mga kapwa Pilipino (I know this will be long and arduous but I am confident that you will support me until the end, until we succeed this for our motherland and our fellow Filipinos)," she said.
"Ngayon ay gusto ko sanang simulan ang ating laban sa pamamagitan ng isang panawagan: Magkaisa po tayong lahat na sumusuporta sa administrasyong Duterte (I want to start this fight with a call for unity: Let us unite, all of us who support the Duterte administration)," she said.
She said the supporters of the administration have a common goal which is "to have a stronger, more peaceful, and a more developed country."
Duterte is running for vice president under the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) in the May 2022 elections. Her father President Rodrigo Duterte decided to run for Senator.
"Ang layunin natin ay hindi lamang ituloy ang magagandang nasimulan ni Pangulong Duterte kundi ang mas pagbutihin at mas palawigin pa ang mga ito (Our goal is not only to continue what President Duterte started, but to do better and broaden it)," she added.
Duterte also clarified that after deciding to run for the national elections their party made an alliance and asked for support for Marcos and for her. However, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP Laban), which her father leads, refused to do so.
"Ang ating partido ay nakipag-alyansa at humingi ng suporta para kay Bongbong Marcos at para sa akin matapos kong tanggapin ang inyong hamon at panawagan. Tinanggihan ito ng PDP at naiintindihan natin ito," Duterte said.
"Pero gusto ko lamang na linawin walang pangalan na sinisira o dinudungisan, walang sinasagasaan, walang inaagrabyado, inaaway, pinapaiyak, o inaapi. Sa muli nananawagan ako ng pagkakaisa (But I would like to clarify that no names are being maligned or tarnished, no one is treated unfairly. Again, I call for unity)," she added.