DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is “out” of the presidential race for the 2022 elections, her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, said.
“Inday [Sara] is definitely out as she has said earlier… She’s always maintained that she’s not running. She was just true to her words,” Duterte said in an exclusive interview with SMNI News on Friday evening, October 8.
The President was in Davao City for a private dinner with Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy.
He said during the interview that the mayor is still young and that she has more opportunities in the future.
“Inday [Sara] is young and there will always be some opportunities in the future for her, not necessarily the presidency,” Duterte said.
The President initially said he will run for vice president in next year’s election. But on October 2, he surprised the public by announcing that he will no longer pursue it and will be retiring after his term ends on June 30, 2022.
Instead, former presidential aide and Senator Christopher “Bong” Go will be taking over as the standard bearer of the PDP-Laban for vice president.
Go filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) on October 2.
The president said in an ambush interview, right after the COC filing, announced that it will be a “Sara-Go” tandem.
Duterte-Carpio, in her recent statements, said that she will not be running for any position on the national level, and that she will stay in the city to serve the Dabawenyos.
During the last day of the COC filing in the city, her supporters were expecting that she would withdraw her candidacy as mayor in Davao City, and show up in the COC filing in Manila on Friday. However, the mayor was no show.
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, October 9,she said she understood the disappointment and frustration of some of her supporters.
“Kahapon [October 8], marami sa inyo ang naghintay, umiyak, nalungkot, nagalit, sumakabilang-bakod pati na siguro napagod, napuyat, nauhaw at nagutom. Pero wala man ako sa Sofitel, hinding hindi naman kayo nawalan ng pag-asa at tiyaga sa paghihintay,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She said that she was overwhelmed with the support of the Dabawenyos.
Despite her non-appearance on the last day of COC filing, her supporters are still expecting that a substitution will take place, same as what the President Duterte, then Davao City mayor, did during the 2015 COC filing.
