Sara Duterte hints at Senate run in 2019 polls

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio hinted at the possibility of her running in next year’s senatorial race.

Speaking to reporters at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Intramuros, Sara said she is open to running for a national or any other government position in the coming 2019 mid-term elections.

The Davao mayor was at the Comelec to attend a hearing on the petition to register her political party Ang Hukbo ng Pagbabago (HNP).

While saying that she is yet to make a final decision, she is also open to running in next year’s political race.

She added that a month or two before elections she might be able to make a final decision, which would largely depend on survey results and the capacity to run a national campaign.

“There is no final decision yet,” she said in Filipino. “It would depend on who our opponents will be, on the availability of funds, on winnability – it all depend on these factors.”

But President Duterte, she added, is giving her a free hand in choosing a local or a national elective post in 2019.

In the meantime, she is pushing for the Comelec accreditation of HNP as a regional political party.

“We established it (HNP) for security and development in Davao City and to pursue the ideals of what we all want – a strong region, a secure life for our constituents, good governance and effective leadership of the members of the party,” she explained.

Sara hopes that Comelec will rule in favor of their application for recognition as a regional political party in Davao Region, adding that the PDP-Laban, her father’s political party, is not a regional but a national group.

She added that she is pushing for the recognition of HNP so they could create bloc voting for the Davao Region.

“That’s why we need a regional political party because a lot of members of HNP have different national political party affiliations,” she explained.

The Comelec gave the HNP five days to submit a memorandum.