DAVAO CITY, Philippines – With huge billboards sprouting over the country in the past weeks egging Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to run for the presidency next year, the mayor said she is not changing her decision to run for the country’s highest post.
“For now there is no chance that I will change my mind,” Duterte-Carpio said over her regular interview on Davao City Disaster Radio DXQQ 87.5 FM on Monday.
The mayor had already said in an interview on February on GMA News that she has no plans for running for higher office in 2022 despite the activities and materials spread by reported supporters.
Mayor Sara’s supporters have spread from Davao to other cities with billboards with huge “Run, Sara, Run” slogans. They also distributed calendars, stickers, and t-shirts bearing her name even though the campaign period is still far from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) schedule on February 8 to May 7, 2022.
“I am always grateful that I have their trust and confidence. I am pleading to them to please allow me to run for President in 2034 if at that time there is something I can do to help the country,” she told GMA News.
The mayor added that the 2022 presidency is far from her mind as the public is focused on dealing with the economic and health problems brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
READ: Scammers collect funds for Sara’s 2022 presidential bid
The mayor also reminded those who are hanging tarpaulins urging her to run to pay permits in the city government. She also ordered the removal of tarpaulins in public places within the city.
In a surprising move, she said the only way she would reconsider her decision is to have the opposition support her bid and help her win in 2022.
The early campaign has drawn mixed reactions, some wary that this is the same campaign ploy made by her father Rodrigo Duterte that created a groundswell of support in 2016 that made him change his mind to run and win the presidency.
Critics and netizens also are wary of continuing a Duterte legacy, which has seen a slow response to vaccination amidst the pandemic.
Various surveys have included Sara Duterte among the frontliners in the presidential race that include Vice President Leni Robredo, Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno, Senator Manny Pacquiao and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.
President Duterte has flip-flopped his stand on this matter, his latest comment on January showed him not wanting his daughter to run as president because the presidency is not suitable for women. (davaotoday.com)
Comelec, davao city, duterte, Elections 2022, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Presidential elections
