BATANGAS CITY, Batangas--Vice presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte aired her "frustration" Wednesdaym April 20 over not being able to help Filipinos during the Covid-19 pandemic in the capacity of a healthcare professional.
Duterte, who is a graduate of respiratory therapy, made the revelation during a rather intimate speaking engagement with some 500 nurses and frontliners at the DREAM Zone auditorium at the Capitol compound here.
"It was so frustrating for me as a healthcare--background ko, allied medical professional background ko (my background is that of an allied medical professional), it was so frustrating for me na yung wala ako doon sa frontlines (that I wasn't there at the frontlines)," she said.
"In fact noon kasagsagan ng (during the height of the) Covid-19 pandemic doon ko na-feel na (I felt then that) I should have pursued my medical degree. Because at the point when I was waiting for the results of the bar, I was already thinking of going back to medical school," said the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) chairperson.
"But hindi ako inencourage ng family members ko (But my family members didn't encourage)," the lady mayor added.
She further bared that when she took a break from politics in 2013, she thought of going back to medical school only to not get the support of friends and family "again".
"They were always telling na it was too late. Pero noong pandemic (But during the pandemic), it was so frustrating not to be at the frontlines knowing na it was my interest and it is my heart, in my heart always to become a doctor," Duterte further said.
Duterte, 43, is on her third term as Davao mayor. The Covid-19 pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020.