DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 25 Aug) – Davao City mayor Sara Duterte asked President Rodrigo R. Duterte and his former aide, now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, to just publicly admit their intention of running in tandem for the 2022 elections, urging them stop using her name as the “reason for them running or not running.”
President Rodrigo Duterte and Mayor Sara Duterte. MindaNews file photo by MANMAN DEJETO
In a statement on Wednesday, Mayor Sara said that no less than the President himself confirmed to her that he would run for vice president and Go as president.
“It was not a pleasant event,” she said.
Her statement was issued hours after the pre-recorded “Talk to the People” of President Duterte on Tuesday where he reiterated his plan to run for the country’s second highest position.
The mayor admitted receiving two letters endorsed by the President for her consideration – one stated why she should endorse the Go-Duterte tandem and the other suggested that she should take Go as her vice president if she finalizes her decision to run for president.
“I strongly suggest to the President and Senator Go to own up publicly their decision to run as a tandem. If they can confirm it privately, then I do not see the reason why they cannot be candid about it to the public,” she said.
She told President Duterte and Go to “to stop talking about her” and that they should simply present to the people what they can offer to the country and how they can help the people.
Sara also took a swipe at Senator Koko Pimentel and Ronwald Munsayac, executive director of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), for allegedly blaming her for the “sad state” of their now fractured political party.
She said she is not to blame that “no one among you is a leader worthy of the respect of the majority. Do not blame me for the sitcom that your party has been reduced to.”
“I am not a ‘Last Two Minutes’ person. I think, I organize, and I implement accordingly. In the meantime, I refuse to be a political punching bag for a party in complete disarray,” she said.
Last June, the presidential daughter changed her tune about the upcoming 2022 elections and revealed she is open to running for president. But she thumbed down a possible tandem with her father.
She said she plans to hold consultations with the people to know their sentiments on her possible candidacy for president. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
