The possible tandem of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and her father President Rodrigo Duterte for president and vice president, respectively, in the 2022 elections was just a personal opinion of Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, a Palace official said on Monday.

In a televised press briefing in Davao City, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte has been wanting to finish his six-year term so that he could return to Davao City.

"From what I know, the President really wants to finish his term and he wants to go home in Davao. So, the Duterte-Duterte tandem that Secretary Panelo is saying, that is his personal opinion," he said.

Asked why Panelo could have been floating such an idea and if he advised Duterte about it, Roque said, "Please ask Secretary Panelo because I have no authority to speak for him."

Panelo, in his recent "Counterpoint" program, raised the idea of Sara and the President running together in the next presidential elections.

He has said that Duterte is not prohibited to run for a lower post, similar to what then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did who became a Pampanga congresswoman after she stepped down as president.

Panelo said Duterte is only prohibited by the Constitution to run again as president. Celerina Monte/DMS