Tuguegarao City, Cagayan – Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi on Monday, October 4, said Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio running as the presidential bet of the ruling PDP-Laban in 2022 is a “possibility.”
Cusi, the president of PDP-Laban, gave out his statement following President Rodrigo Duterte’s disclosure that his daughter Sara might run for presidency with Senator Christopher “Bong” Go as her vice-president.
The energy secretary said in statement, “It is a possibility. The President said that right after Senator Bong Go filed his candidacy, saying Sara-Bong Go na. Pero, I think when the President said that, he was enticing Mayor Sara to throw her hat in the national presidency… I don’t know what will happen.”
The Davao City Mayor recently said she will go for re-election instead of running for a presidential seat and has not commented on her father’s recent claims regarding a tandem with Senator Go, who has already filed his COC for vice president last Saturday.
Another seen hurdle by the ruling PDL-Laban party is that Dutere-Carpio is not one of their members and presently is the regional chairman of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago party.
Cusi, however, said the mayor can always be sworn in and join the PDP-Laban as the party can adopt a candidate as part of their advocacies.
“That is a possibility, she can opt to rejoin PDP because she was also really a PDP before. So she can rejoin, that will be that will be an open option,” Cusi added.
Recently, the President has announced to the public that he is retiring from politics although critics have mentioned a possibility of Duterte substituting Go as vice president making a daughter-father tandem possible if his daughter decides to run for presidency.
The filing of certificates of candidacy by the Comelec is up to October 9th while the deadline for substitution is up to November 15, 2021. TNF