Duterte’s daughter rejects offer, but door opens in Philippines presidential race
By Karen Lema
MANILA (Reuters) – The daughter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has no plans to join her father’s party or be its flag bearer, her spokesperson said on Monday, adding to the twists and turns surrounding the election next year’s presidential election in the Southeast Asian nation.
Duterte said on Sunday he would not stand for election https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippine-president-duterte-says-he-is-retiring-politics-2021-10-02 and that he was leaving politics, adding that his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is mayor of Davao city, could run to replace https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippines- duterte-says-daughter- running-president-2022-elections-media-2021-10-02 him.
“Mayor Sara does not intend to become a member of the PDP-Laban (Duterte’s party) or be its flag bearer now or in the near future,” said spokesperson Christina Garcia Frasco. .
Duterte-Carpio, 43, said she would seek re-election as mayor of Davao, the third largest city in the Philippines, but is allowed under electoral rules to step down and register for a different post until November 15th.
Two other presidential candidates https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/contenders-philippines-2022-presidential-race-2021-09-30, including newly retired boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, have so far submitted their candidacies for president.
Duterte’s longtime aide Senator Christopher “Bong” Go is running for vice-president, and the president referred to a “Sara-Go” ticket in an interview with local media immediately after announcing his retirement plans.
Duterte himself had planned to challenge the post of vice president, but his decision not to do so has been interpreted by political analysts as paving the way for his daughter’s presidential race. He is not allowed to run for president again.
Duterte-Carpio, who has received offers from several politicians to run with her in next year’s polls, said last month she would not run for a national post https://www.reuters.com/ world / asia-pacific / duterte-daughter -nie-philippine-succession-interest-expectation-monte-2021-09-09, having agreed with her father that only one Duterte would apply for a higher position.
The PDP-Laban party, which has yet to name its presidential bet, said its door was open for Duterte-Carpio, who belongs to another party, to run for president under his banner. “The decision is up to Sara,” party chairman Alfonso Cusi told Reuters.
Despite her repeated denials, she was interested in becoming her father’s successor, Duterte-Carpio remains by far the most popular presidential prospect, according to successive opinion polls this year. http://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/support-dutertes-declines-philippines-election-survey-2021-09-29
“She is the only logical candidate for the administration… there must be a reason why she has evaluated. Despite the many attacks on the administration, people know that she has her own policy independent from that of her father.” political analyst Edmund Tayao told Reuters. .
Several analysts weren’t completely ruling out a last minute presidential entry https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/run-sara-run-is-dutertes-daughter-playing-her-fathers-game-2021 -04-15 by Duterte-Carpio which would reflect his father’s eleventh hour offer during the 2016 campaign.
Duterte, 76, is seeking to choose a successor whom he can fully trust to protect him and shield him from possible prosecution, including from the International Criminal Court (ICC), once he is removed from office. Several Philippine presidents have been prosecuted and even jailed after leaving office.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened an official investigation into the murders of Duterte’s infamous war on drugs.
The natural choice for Duterte would be Duterte-Carpio as she is “winnable”, but running with Go, who has no base of support and is lagging behind in opinion polls, probably wouldn’t be the best decision, a said former politics professor Temario Rivera.
But he said other alliances were also possible, including one between Duterte-Carpio and the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, whose strong political base in the northern Philippines could garner more votes.
Former Senator Ferdinand Marcos, who lost his run for vice-president in 2016, placed second and fourth in last month’s Pulse Asia survey of potential presidential and vice-presidential candidates. He has yet to make known his plans for 2022.
(Reporting by Karen Lema; Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)