DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/23 July) – Not resigning.
Mayor Sara Duterte ended her 22-day leave Friday with a statement that she was not resigning as the city’s chief executive.
Duterte told reporters that she would immediately buckle down to work on Saturday.
“I heard rumors (that I was resigning) but there really was no truth to it. I just let them talk because I also enjoyed reading Facebook comments both from haters and supporters,” she said.
Mayor Sara Duterte ends here 22-day leave Friday with a statement that she is not resigning as the city’s chief executive. MindaNews photo by ANTONIO L. COLINA IV
She explained that she took a leave to accomplish her other contractual obligations. Duterte, a lawyer, went into private practice after her term as city mayor from 2010 to 2013.
“I had to do personal things for my other work and I don’t want to fulfill them while in office, so I had to take a leave of absence,” she said.
Duterte’s leave was announced by her brother, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, who served as acting mayor from July 1 until he went on leave last July 20, Wednesday.
She said that the programs that she would prioritize will include infrastructure development, poverty alleviation, agriculture, health, peace and order, sustainable solid waste management, and housing.
She said she would re-consider the stalled plans of putting up a tenement housing.
She confirmed her attendance to the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of her father, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, on Monday but has yet to receive word from her two brothers, Paolo and Sebastian it they would attend, too. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)