President Rodrigo Duterte assured the public that his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio,won’t seek a national position.
“Ang anak ko, si Inday, I can tell you I know her. Hindi magtatakbo ‘yan ng national. Ganun lang ‘yan (My daughter, Inday. She won’t seek a national post. She’s just like that),” the president said.
Duterte mentioned this in his speech at the joint 68th National Security Council (NSC) and 69th National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) founding anniversary at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Tuesday, July 31.
He mentioned this after he warned families of politicians not to engage in criminal activities.
“So kung may crime, the crime is repeatedly committed, mga droga. Patatanggalan kita talaga ng pulis. May mga… superstar complex kasi ‘yan eh. Lalo na ‘yung matagal na, [the] family of politicians (If there is a crime, and if the crime is repeatedly committed, with drugs. I will remove your police presence. They mostly have superstar complex, especially those in office for so long, the family of politicians),” Duterte said.
He also expressed his approval of a law against political dynasties in the Philippines.
“I am in favor of putting up… a dynasty law. I am okay with that. I have no problem,” Duterte said.
A Pulse Asia survey for the 2019 senatorial elections conducted from July 15 to 21 revealed that around 46 percent of the respondents expressed support for the president’s daughter.
The city mayor was among the leading candidates, wavering from third to fifth in the nationwide survey. Duterte-Carpio lags behind Sen. Grace Poe, Taguig City Rep. Lani Cayetano, and Sen. Cynthia Villar.
In a report from the Philippine Star, Duterte-Carpio said that she is overwhelmed by the results of the survey. However, she neither confirmed nor denied any desire to run for office. She also failed to mention her plans for the upcoming year so as to deliberately annoy her critics, according to a report from Rappler.
“Huwag lang ako inisin ng mga kalaban ni PRD (As long as the enemies of President Rodrigo Duterte don’t irritate me) then my slot should become available to all the yellows,” Duterte-Carpio had said.
During the 2016 elections, the nation could recall how the president also denied any desire to run and even said that any notion of him seeking a national post was a “wild dream.” A series of last-minute decisions eventually led to his landslide victory and third year in office.
