
MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has declared that his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, will run with Senator Christopher “Bong” Go for the two top government positions in the May 9, 2022 elections.
Duterte affirmed the tandem in an impromptu interview outside the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on Saturday, following Go’s filing of his Certificate of Candidacy for Vice President.
“Sara-Go na ‘yan (It’s already Sara-Go [in the 2022 national elections]),” Duterte said in a video uploaded on the Facebook page of actress Vivian Velez.
Duterte withdrew his nomination as the ruling party’s Vice-Presidential candidate, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), and announced his intention to retire from public service when his tenure expires in June 2022.
Go had already been declared as the PDP-Laban’s top nominee, but he declined the nomination.
Duterte’s recent statement came despite the fact that the Davao mayor has consistently refused the presidency and filed her COC for a third and final term on Saturday.
When asked if his daughter’s presidential bid is already finalized, Duterte responded “yes”.
“Ah, actually, hindi kami nag-uusap ng politika (we never talked about politics) ever since. Ever since, we never talked about politics. I would say that I did that [withdrawal of my vice-presidential bid] for the better,” Duterte said when pressed anew if he has given her the go-signal to seek the presidency.
He stated he doesn’t know when the mayor will declare her candidacy for president.
In the 2016 election, the President himself was a back-up candidate for Martin Diño.
Diño, the chair of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption at the time, withdrew his COC after being “insulted” by the possibility that the Commission on Elections might consider him a nuisance bet.
The deadline for COC filing is on October 8, and political parties have until November 15 to replace candidates.