Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte (Robby Joy D. Salveron / davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Presidential son and City Vice Mayor, Paolo Duterte, announced Thursday, October 26 that he will retire from politics this 2019 elections.
Vice Mayor Duterte, in a statement said there will be a Carpio-Duterte tandem in the elections but did not say whether it is his brother-in-law Atty. Manases Carpio, who is the husband of City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, and his brother Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.
“When Mayor Sara announced that she will file for a congressional seat in the 1st District, everybody’s asking me where I am going. It will still be a Carpio-Duterte tandem in the mayor and Vice Mayor, we are still talking to the other Duterte but definitely it will not be me,” he said.
“If you will ask me where will I go, I will be going back to farming. I am planning to retire,” he added.
Mayor Sara, on Monday, announced her plan to run for Congress in 2019 as a representative from the first district during the gathering of supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte called Tapang and Malasakit Alliance for the Philippines held in Taguig City on Monday, October 23.
In a press briefing here on Tuesday, October 24, she also quipped that she is eyeing the post of the House Speaker, dismissing rumors that she is planning to run for the Senate.
Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio said she and incumbent 1st district Rep. Karlo Nograles have not yet discussed on her plans to run for as a representative of the first district in Davao City.
She told reporters that even if they have not yet talked about their plans she sees no problem since the younger Nograles is already gunning for a Senate seat.
“Mag-Senador na man si Karlo, mag-end na man ang term ni Karlo and nagsulti na man siya nga mag-Senator siya (Karlo will run for Senator, his term is about to end and he already said he’ll run for the Senate),” she said.
Early this month, Nograles was listed by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel as among his personal choices for the senatorial slate in 2019 under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), chaired by President Duterte.
On September 2, Nograles was sworn into PDP-Laban by the president. Nograles has not yet issued a statement on the issue.
The Dutertes and the Nograles have long been political rivals in the city until former city mayor Rodrigo Duterte was elected as President. (davaotoday.com)
