‘Pa can fly home as President’

MANILA, Philippines — In Davao City, presidential daughter and Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said yesterday her father has every right to fly home to this city as he is the country’s topmost “frontliner” in the fight against the coronavirus disease pandemic now prevailing in the country.

“So wala nay mas frontliner pa sa atong tanan sa presidente sa atong nasud (There is no one else who is the top frontliner in our country other than the President),” said Duterte-Carpio in a live interview on Davao City Disaster Radio yesterday afternoon.

The mayor defended the President’s having flown into the city after 67 days following the start of quarantine period in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19. 

Officials said the President was exempted from the existing ban on air travel now implemented in Manila and also here in Davao City.

The President arrived Saturday onboard a private jet after Sara allowed him to land at the Davao International airport when the city was already under general community quarantine.

But Sara was also quick to point out her father only saw his “other family,” referring to Duterte’s long-time partner Honeylet and their daughter Kitty before flying back to Manila yesterday.