Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will surely win the presidency if she decides to run, Malacañang said Sunday.
Palace Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the mayor was qualified to run, claiming she was “more strict than the President with respect to governance in Davao.
“If she decides to run, for sure she will win,” Panelo said in a radio interview.
“President Duterte’s experience is mainly on mayoral post. That’s like Mayor Sara…She’s more strict than the President with respect to governance in Davao,” he said.
Duterte held the mayoral post in Davao City for more than two decades. His daughter, meanwhile, was elected Davao City mayor in 2016.
Panelo’s statement came after religious leader Apollo Quiboloy, who has close ties with the Duterte family, said Duterte-Carpio had already been chosen by God to follow the footsteps of her father to become the country’s next leader.
The presidential daughter has said she has not closed the door on the possibility of running for the presidency.
She said she would wait and decide by January 2021.
But when asked if she indeed had plans to join the 2022 presidential race, Duterte-Carpio said: ‘‘Everything will be easier in the plan of God.’’
Duterte has already said he would not allow his daughter to run for the highest post in the government.
“I know she will not run for President. She is wise,” Duterte said in a speech in April.
“She’s just trying to shake the tree. Shaking the tree and getting rid of the dry leaves and everything. If you ask me, I do not like her to run for President.”
READ: Sara to ‘pray for wisdom’ for 2022