President Duterte and his daughter, vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio, are in “talking terms,” a Palace official claimed on Wednesday, Dec. 15, a day after the President withdrew his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) as senator.
This came after the President himself withdrew his candidacy at the Commission on Election (Comelec) office in Manila hours after her daughter endorsed his senatorial bid on Tuesday, Dec. 14.
“They are in talking terms. The relationship is father and daughter. As with fathers and daughters, they will always love each other as a father loves a daughter and a daughter loves a father,” Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said in his virtual presser.
READ: Mayor Sara endorses six 'friends' to join PRRD as her senatorial bets
The Chief Executive admitted in November that he and his daughter have not talked for a while. He also said he was surprised that Duterte-Carpio filed to run as vice president when she could have had a fighting chance to succeed him in Malacañang.
Initially, the President said he will run as vice president but after Duterte-Carpio filed her COC for the same position, he decided to seek a Senate seat instead.
Nograles pointed out that Duterte-Carpio herself said that “she will support the President’s decision” after learning that her father withdrew his COC for senator.
READ: 'Retirement is coming?': Palace justifies Duterte's withdrawal from Senate race
Rumors abound that the father and daughter are not on good terms, but Palace officials have denied the allegations despite Duterte-Carpio becoming a member of Lakas-CMD instead of Duterte’s own Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
Before the filing of the COC and the substitution deadline, many believed that Duterte-Carpio will run with her father’s former long-time aide, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go. She, however, chose to run as vice president in tandem with former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is facing a disqualification case.
This left the PDP-Laban without a strong candidate for the presidency, especially after Go himself also withdrew his candidacy for president.
Duterte has yet to address speculations on who he will endorse as his successor.