Sara Duterte may leave Hugpong, cites fatigue

DAVAO CITYm, Philippines — Presidential daughter Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is thinking of leaving the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) regional political party just a few days before the May 13 midterm polls.

Carpio, who chairs the HNP, heads the campaign caravan for the senatorial candidates they are endorsing and has been visiting various parts of the country.

She said fatigue has set in after all the days and nights spent on the campaign trail, pushing for the senatorial bets and endorsing local candidates.

“Actually, the truth is I am now considering the idea of leaving HNP because this election (campaign) is already making me tired. All of them are looking up to me and waiting on me,” she pointed out at the sidelines of a recent campaign rally in the south.

A series of rallies is set for HNP this week, which will lead to its biggest rally here, just days before the campaign period for the May 13 polls ends.

Carpio, who is a re-electionist without any serious challenger, has taken a leave from office since last month to embark on a nationwide campaign for the HNP candidates.

Although the campaign has taken her to many places nationwide, she is not agreeable to suggestions that HNP be turned into a national party. If she would have her way, she wants the party to remain a regional grouping that is based in Southern Mindanao, which includes Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur and Davao Occidental.

She added that there are realities in national politics that she only came to face when she went on the campaign trail for the 13 candidates that the HNP is endorsing.

Carpio also cited the difficulty in national politics given the different dynamics of the various local political groups they have to deal with along the way.

“I thought the campaign was going to be easy because in Davao, it was easy to talk with the politicians. But then, when the campaign grew this big and you meet all the difference people (in politics), it becomes really hard,” she explained.

Although many think the presidential daughter is going on the provincial sorties this early as a dry run for the 2022 presidential campaign, Carpio stressed that she has no plans of running for president given the enormous responsibility that the office brings.

She said she also does not like the attention she is getting as she has always been addressed as the “next president” in HNP rallies.

The presidential daughter added that she has been getting the focus and attention in the rallies, a situation she does not relish because this should have been turned on the senatorial and local candidates instead of on her.