CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Several public transport groups in Mindanao have expressed their support for Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio as they urge her to join the presidential race in the 2022 local and national elections.
Among the groups that have manifested their support is One Mindanao Transport Association Inc. (1Mintra), which claimed to have about a hundred member-organizations all over Mindanao.
Sinawe Mamao, 1Mintra chairperson, said they want Duterte-Carpio to run “to continue the good things that her father (Pres. Rodrigo Duterte) has started during his six-year term.”
Mamao said one of Duterte’s legacies that has benefited the public transport industry is the public utility vehicle modernization program.
“We want Mayor Sara to sustain the programs of the President,” he said, “aside from that, we also appreciate the Build, Build, Build program of Pres. Duterte.”
Mamao has clarified that the mayor has nothing to do with the movement that they have initiated.
“This is voluntary. Nobody told us to do this, not even Mayor Sara,” he said.
The groups involved conducted a caravan in Misamis Oriental on August 8, and Mamao said it was the first of a series of caravans all over Mindanao to aware people their intent to support Duterte-Carpio.
When asked if they will still support Duterte-Carpio should she decide to run for the vice presidency instead, Mamao said they cannot yet make a stand on reports that the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) has endorsed Senator Christopher Lawrence Go and Duterte as the party’s candidates for president and vice president, respectively.
PDP-Laban is the country’s ruling party, with Duterte as its national chairperson.
“That’s a political decision. We don’t have a say in that. Right now, we are focusing our resources and energy on supporting Mayor Sara,” Mamao said.
Another group, the Bukidnon Transport Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Buktramco), has also manifested their support for the 1Mintra-initiated movement.
Melvin Erederos, Buktramco chairperson for Cagayan de Oro, said their cooperative has 4,000 members in Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon, and that they are united in the call for Duterte-Carpio to run as president in next year’s elections.
