Presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, the incumbent mayor of Davao City, has spoken: No intention to run for president in 2022 to succeed her by then outgoing president-father.
Her statement, reported by Ivan Mayrina’s on “24 Oras” Friday, quoted her as telling the British-based news agency Reuters that she would not be a late entry in the presidential race as her father was in 2016.
The statement doused water on political speculation, raised by some pundits, that Sara would run for president while her father would be her running mate.
“I am not being coy nor am I doing a last minute. If the whole country doesn’t want to believe that, then I can’t do anything about it. Not everyone wants to be president. I am one of them,” Sara said.
“I thank all of them for their trust and confidence in what I can do but my refusal to run for president is not the end of the world,” she told Reuters.
Sara had earlier topped a Pulse Asia survey on possible candidates for president in the 2022 elections but she said she was not interested and asked survey firms to exclude her in similar surveys in the future.
Earlier, Duterte said the presidency was not for women as he discouraged his daughter from running for president in 2022 despite being urged by many.
The president said the presidency was not for women, given their emotional setup—a comment criticized by some lawmakers for its mysogynistic slant.