THERE is no chance of a Duterte-Duterte tandem happening during the 2022 elections, according to Malacañang.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Wednesday, June 9, said Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will not run for vice president should his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara “Inday” Duterte, decide to run for the country’s top post.
“Sa tingin ko po iyong isyu kung siya ay tatakbo o hindi, nakadepende po iyan, unang-una kung tatakbo si Mayor Inday Sara (I think the issue if he will run or not depends on whether Mayor Inday Sara will run),” Roque said in an interview with dzRH.
“Kung tatakbo po si Mayor Inday Sara, sigurado po ako hindi siya tatakbo ng vice president (If Mayor Sara runs, I am sure he will not run for vice president),” the spokesman added.
Roque noted that Duterte already wanted to retire, but maintained the president would make a decision that will be good for the country.
“Naniniwala po ako na gusto ng magretiro ng Presidente, pero naniniwala din po ako na gagawa ng decision ang Presidente na mas makakabuti sa ating sambayanan (I believe that the president wants to retire but I also believe that he will make a decision that will benefit the people),” he said.
On Tuesday, June 8, Duterte said he is “resisting” calls led by the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) urging him to run for vice president next year.
“That is difficult…because I am retiring. Then, this time, I will choose the president. When I win, they will say what I am doing is perpetuate [myself] in power, so I resist,” he said partially in Filipino during a televised interview with SMNI News.
The president also revealed that he advised his daughter anew about running for president.
“I talked to Inday last night and told her ‘do not run,’” Duterte said in Filipino.
“Do not ever, ever commit the mistake of running for the presidency. I do not mean to insult the Filipino people, but you don’t really get anything in being president,” he added.
For her part, Sara said she “does not understand” why Malacañang and opposition coalition 1Sambayan are talking about her running for president in the 2022 elections.
“I do not understand why 1Sambayan and the Palace are playing a slapping game about a Duterte-Duterte tandem,” she told ABS-CBN News.
The Davao City mayor added, “The President already said he does not believe I am fit to be President because I am a woman. Period.”
Earlier this year, Duterte advised Sara against running for the presidency, claiming that women are not fit for the top government post.
“My daughter, inuudyok man nila. Sabi ko, ‘My daughter is not running.’ I have told Inday not to run kasi naaawa ako sa dadaanan niya na dinaanan ko. Hindi ito pambabae (My daughter, they are urging her [to run for president in 2022]. I said my daughter is not running. I have told Inday not to run because I take pity if she goes through what I went through. It’s not for women),” he said on January 14.
“Alam mo, the emotional set-up of a woman and a man is totally different. Maging gago ka dito. That is the sad story (You know, the emotional set-up of a woman and a man is totally different. You will become a fool here. That is the sad story),” he added.
Responding to her father’s remarks, Sara said she told him she had no intentions to run for the presidency.
“I went to see him (PRRD) last Jan. 8. I told him I do not intend to run for President. He replied, ‘Very good.’ He also said he did not want me to run, but nothing about gender was discussed,” she told Rappler.
