President Duterte has endorsed the vice-presidential bid of his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, saying she is still his child despite their issues.
Duterte made this pronouncement during the PDP-Laban grand rally in Lapu-Lapu City on March 31.
In his speech primarily delivered in Bisaya, the President, for the first time, endorsed Sara's candidacy in public.
"Ang akong --- ang ako, ako retired. Akong anak modaga’g bise-presidente. Og inyong tan-aw nga... Actually, this is the first time nga gigamit nako ang akong pagka-amahan nga sa anak. Nagkuan ko eh, nakaagi’g samok. Pero anak is anak is anak (I’m going to retire but my daughter is running for vice president. If you think that... Actually, this is the first time that I’m using my name as a father, for my daughter. It’s because we’ve had issues, but she is my daughter)," he said.
"Pero maayo na si Inday sa tinuod lang. Basta trabaho lang tinarong, maayo na si Inday (nday is very good, to be totally honest with you. Inday is very hard working)," he added.
This was not the first time President Duterte said he and the Davao City Mayor are not talking ever since the latter decided to run for vice president in the 2022 elections.
In November last year, Duterte admitted that Sara kept him in the dark about her plans for the upcoming polls and only learned about it when she filed her certificate of candidacy (COC).
“Hindi ko nga malaman kung anong nasa utak. Hindi nga kami nag-uusap, eh (I don’t know what going in her mind. We don’t even talk),” Duterte said in an interview with pro-Duterte vlogger Byron Cristobal.
“Hindi ko naman siya sinisisi kasi hindi naman kami nag-uusap. Yung desisyon nila ang ayaw ko na tatakbo siya (I’m not blaming her because we don’t even talk. Their decision about her running is what I didn’t like),” he added.
Early this year, the PDP-Laban faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi adopted Mayor Duterte as the party's vice-presidential bet. Last month, it said it would support the presidential bid of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
However, President Duterte maintained that he is not supporting any presidential candidate in the 2022 elections despite his party's decision to support Marcos, whom he once said he is not supporting because the former lawmaker is supposedly a "spoiled child" and a "weak leader."
"I am not supporting any presidential candidate. Neutral ako (I'm neutral)," Duterte said during his speech in Lapu-Lapu City on March 31.
"So this is not a campaign because I'm not campaigning for a particular candidate. So stop f—— with me dahil hindi ito politika (this is not politics),” he added.
Last week, it was confirmed that Duterte had met with Marcos, but the President said this week that his meeting with candidates does not mean anything special as it is part of being a politician.
"I had to ," he said.
“Siyempre (Of course), I had to talk to them, taas ng kamay nila. Well, ang buhay ng pulitiko (and raise their hand. Well, that's the life of a politician)," he added.
President Duterte has repeated that he will stay neutral and would only support a presidential candidate should there be a compelling reason for him to do so.