DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has asked the public to refrain from political noise and instead turn their focus on following the health protocols amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Samtang nagkaduol ang filing of candidacy magkasaba, samot ug saba ang istorya sa pulitika (As the filing of candidacy draws near, the noise in politics intensifies), and I would like to remind everyone that let’s focus on what we need to do diri sa atong siyudad sa Davao (here in Davao City), do not listen to that political noise,” Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday, August 9, 2021.
She reiterated the compliance of the minimum health protocols such as wearing of face masks, face shields, and observance of the physical distancing.
“Sa karon (As of now), we are on GCQ [general community quarantine] with heightened restrictions. So duna na siyay guide gikan sa (So there is an existing guide from) IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force], gikan sa (from) DOLE [Department of Labor and Employment], ug (and) DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] kung unsay kinahanglan buhaton nato niana (on what to do),” the mayor said.
She added, “Kung dili ninyo makita didto, pangitaon ninyo sa executive orders na na-release na kung unsang appropriate guidelines para sa inyong gusto buhaton na activity (If you cannot see it there, look on our released executive orders on the appropriate guidelines for the conduct of your activities.)”
The mayor’s statement came days after she disowned a circulating video of a group using a plane for her campaign.
Duterte-Carpio issued a statement on Saturday, August 7, 2021, after a video circulated on social media showing a group at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport (Davao International Airport) talking about a meeting with the mayor and the use of an airplane to bring in campaign materials.
The mayor denied that she told anyone that she is running for president and did conduct any meeting about the use of a plane for her supposed campaign materials.
She added she did not know the persons in the video — a certain Gino, Bong Acquia, and Joseph Ponce of the Ituloy Ang Pagbabago Movement (IPM) 2022.
In the video, Ponce, allegedly the IPM secretary-general, showed the aircraft that he said will transport the campaign materials of Duterte when she runs for President in the 2022 elections.
Duterte-Carpio warned that she will not hesitate to pursue legal measures against her supporters who will use her name for their personal transactions.
The mayor said she “already successfully pursued a case for name-dropping and recently supported a case against an organized crime group of money scammers” who used her in their fraudulent activities.
On August 4, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) presented a group of scammers using the name of Duterte-Carpio and other city officials in their illegal activities.
The respondents were identified members of the Cerbito-Hernandez Organized Group. Four of the six suspects who surrendered were identified as Patrick Orinio Cerbito, Ramon Segundo, Antonio Cerbito, and Antonio Segundo.
NCRPO said in a report that the group was allegedly behind the illegal solicitation of campaign funds for the candidacy of the presidential daughter in 2022.
The mayor also revealed that a certain individual had used her name to drop a certain labor case that is currently being decided in Manila.
Duterte-Carpio had previously warned the public against individuals soliciting money for her supposed candidacy for the 2022 elections.
She urged the public to report it to her through the City Government’s official social media accounts.
Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio, early this year, barred all government employees, including barangay officials, from joining any out-of-town political activities prodding her to run this 2022 election through Executive Order (EO) 17.
“All government personnel, including barangay officials, are prohibited to join any political activity for Sara Duterte outside of Davao City. Activity shall mean to include caravan, meeting, rally, parade, program and all other forms of gathering,” Section 1 of the EO states.
The mayor reasoned that traveling for non-essential reasons, including caravan, is banned “because of the danger it poses to the health of the traveler.”
She added that traveling in areas with high Covid-19 cases poses a great possibility that they will be infected.
The mayor also barred the conduct of motorcades calling for her candidacy within the jurisdiction of Davao City.
Duterte-Carpio, who recently said that she is open for the presidency, has not formally announced her political plans in 2022.
