Sara Duterte says not seeking national position after Duterte named admin VP bet
MANILA, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will not be running for a national position in 2022, she said Thursday citing an agreement with her father President Rodrigo Duterte, who has declared his candidacy for vice president.
A faction of the administration PDP-Laban party on Wednesday proclaimed President Duterte its nominee for vice president, although Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go, the party's chosen presidential bet, has yet to accept his nomination.
"I am not running for a national position as we both agreed only one of us will run for a national position in 2022," Mayor Duterte-Carpio said in a text message to reporters.
The Palace in August said that President Duterte would back out of a vice-presidential run if Mayor Duterte-Carpio mounts a presidential bid. The mayor has been leading pre-election surveys and some Palace officials previously floated a "Duterte-Duterte" tandem in 2022.
"For my part, dahil delicadeza, hindi po pwede dalawa kami dyan, if she runs, out na rin ako," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on August 25, quoting the president.
(For my part, out of propriety, it cannot be that two of us will be there, if she runs, I'll back out.)
Mayor Duterte-Carpio's announcement leaves the administration coalition without a presidential candidate for now, although there is time yet before the filing of certificates of candidacy in October.
Only Sen. Panfilo Lacson and his running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III have formally announced their candidacies. Vice President Leni Robredo, seen as a potential candidate for the opposition, has yet to decide on runnng.
Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who leads another faction of PDP-Laban, has also yet to announce his plans for 2022.
Sen. Go, in a statement on Wednesday evening, declined the nomination of the PDP-Laban faction fielding Duterte for vice president.
"Ang importante ay hahanapan natin ng katimbang si Pangulong Duterte upang maipagpatuloy ang pagbabago," he said.
(What is important is for us is to look for someone like President Duterte to continue the change he started)
PDP-Laban secretary-general Melvin Matibag said in an online press conference after the party convention in Pampanga that they would wait for Go to change his mind.
President Duterte was a last-minute substitute candidate for PDP-Laban in 2016.
Duterte had repeatedly said he was not interested in running and even said he was thinking of retiring from politics.
Martin Diño, chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption at the time and currently an undersecretary at the Department of the Interior and Local Government, was the party's original presidential candidate.
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