Ruling party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) may yet try to "convert" Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio into supporting her father's bet for the presidency.
This can be gleaned from the statement of Cabinet Secretary and Acting Presidential Spokesperson Karlo Nograles during his virtual press conference Tuesday, Nov. 23.
During the presser, Nograles was asked whether or not PDP-Laban would launch a last-ditch effort to reach out to Duterte-Carpio in order to convince her to support the administration’s "horse" in the May 2022 Palace race.
"Sa pagkakaalam ko po, ang PDP-Laban ay magkakaroon ng isang national council meeting na gaganapin (From what I know, PDP-Laban will hold a national council meeting) a few weeks from now. So, maaaring pag-usapan po ng partido ang concern o isyu po na iyan or ang question po na iyan (the party might discuss that concern, or that question or issue)," Nograles said.
PDP-Laban is chaired by President Duterte. His daughter, Mayor and vice presidential aspirant Duterte-Carpio, is the newly-minted chairperson of Lakas-CMD (Christian Muslim Democrats).
There has long been a rumored rift between the two, which allegedly caused them to tread different directions for next year’s polls.
The elder Duterte publicly endorsed the presidential bid of his longtime aide and friend, Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go last week. This made Go the default administration bet for the high-stakes Palace contest next year, even if he is running under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS) party and not PDP-Laban.
Duterte-Carpio is running alongside presidential aspirant former Senator Bongbong Marcos in a much-publicized team-up between political darlings of the south and the north, respectively.
President Duterte has previously said that he preferred to have his daughter vie for the country’s top post next year, but this didn't come to fruition.
The Chief Executive had earlier said that he can't support the Palace bid of Marcos, son of the late former strongman President Ferdinand Marcos. He even ruled out a coalition between PDP-Laban and Lakas-CMD due to Marcos's supposed links with the latter.
Marcos is a Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) stalwart.
It remains to be seen if PDP-Laban would try to send feelers to Duterte-Carpio for the purpose of consolidating support for Go.