DAVAO CITY – Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday afternoon reacted to his son’s, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte’s resignation from the Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod Party.
In a letter dated September 23, the younger Duterte said “the current leadership of the Hugpong does not seem to recognize nor see the effort and determination that I have invested in the service of Hugopng, thus I feel that the current leadership is turning a blind eye to my contribution to the cause.”
In his Facebook post on Thursday (Vice Mayor Pulong Duterte – Official), the vice mayor said “(a)fter serious consideration, I have come to a decision to speak out and put my worth on the table. Not for selfish motives but by the achievements I have earned and the acts and efforts I committed to the Office and to the people.”
He added that the public”can be assured that you will never see the day that anyone of us in the family will meet head to head in a political arena.”
“They will always be a family to me,” he said.
Mayor Duterte, in a media briefing, said the vice mayor must be hurt after he “misconstrued” his previous statement that the vice mayor’s slot was open for others.
“When I said that the vice mayorship is open, it’s because if my daughter (Inday Sara) would run for Mayor, then siya (Paolo)na yun. He’ll be the candidate if there’s nobody else,” he said.
Duterte clarified that if Inday Sara will not agree to run as city mayor “and she is very consistent about that, then the next logical candidate will be Paolo and that leaves the vice mayorship open.” (davaotoday.com)
