Palace bares Duterte's 5 choices to support for 2022 presidential elections
President Rodrigo Duterte has five choices for his possible presidential candidate in the 2022 elections, his spokesman said on Thursday.
In an online press briefing, Secretary Harry Roque said Duterte may endorse as his presidential bet any of the five: his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Senator Manny Pacquiao, former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, and Senator Christopher "Bong" Go.
"Let's just say the President mentioned many options and I will just repeat it," he said, citing the five politicians.
While Roque mentioned that presidential daughter was one of the options, he was apparently inconsistent when he reiterated Duterte's previous position that Duterte-Carpio will not seek the presidency next year.
"I heard personally the President as of last Monday, someone called him up - I won't say who - and he said, Mayor Inday Sara still won't run. And the recommendation was for her not to run. So, that's the latest I heard from the President's own mouth," Roque said.
Some personalities have visited Duterte-Carpio in Davao City, and one of them was Marcos during the former's birthday recently.
It could be recalled that in the 2016 presidential elections, Duterte made a last minute decision to run.
It was one of his allies who filed Duterte's certificate of candidacy for president at the Commission on Elections in Intramuros, Manila. His ally filed Duterte's COC on the last hour of the last day of the filing of COC.
Duterte's PDP-Laban partymates, in a recent controversial national assembly in Cebu, passed a resolution urging Duterte to run for vice president after he steps down as president next year.
Roque reiterated that Duterte has no decision yet on the matter.
Asked on the possibility of Duterte-Duterte tandem in next year's polls, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, who is also the vice chairman of PDP-Laban, in the same virtual press briefing, said, "if we are going to say that it will be Duterte-Duterte, that is something that we need to really study.
"We cannot answer whether it's good or not good at the moment. What we need to do is find out who can really help, push for the improvement of our people and the country. That's what is important," he said.
Duterte-Carpio is not a member of the ruling PDP-Laban. She is the founder and head of Davao-based Hugpong ng Pagbabago, a regional-based political group.
Roque said there was no decision either on the part of Duterte-Carpio if she will really join in the presidential race although many have been expressing support on her presidential bid.
But pressed if a Duterte-Duterte tandem is a wise move, he said, "Let’s just put it this way, there was already a Duterte-Duterte in Davao and let’s ask the people of Davao if it was good for the city because that could also be a clue that could help us decide if a Duterte-Duterte tandem will be good for the country."
Prior to his presidential bid, Duterte was elected as his daughter's vice mayor in Davao City after the former's three consecutive three-year terms as mayor expired.
On the observations of some people that Duterte is disqualified to run for vice president, Roque, who is a lawyer and who taught constitutional law in a university, said, "If a president is prohibited to run for VP, that should be written, there should be a text in the Constitution that it is prohibited. Since there is no provision, it must be allowed," he said. Celerina Monte/DMS
