Palace confirms: Duterte won't run for VP if Sara makes bid for presidency
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2, 3:25 p.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte’s vice-presidential bid still hinges upon the presidential bid of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, the Palace confirmed.
In a recorded address aired late Tuesday night, Duterte confirmed his party’s announcement earlier. He said: “Gusto talaga ninyo? Oh sige, tatakbo ako ng bise president. Then I will continue the crusade. I’m worried about the drugs, insurgency—well number one is insurgency, then criminality, drugs.”
But part of Duterte’s meeting with his Cabinet secretaries may have been cut and edited out when it aired late Tuesday night.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, quoting the president, said that should Sara Duterte run, Sen. Bong Go who received a nomination for the presidency from PDP-Laban but has not accepted, “is out.”
“For my part, dahil delicadeza, hindi po pwede dalawa kami dyan, if she runs, out na rin ako,” Duterte, as relayed by Roque, has supposedly said, the STAR reported.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque, quoting the president, said that should Sara Duterte decide to run then a senator who is also the president's long-time aide "is out... For my part, dahil delicadeza, hindi po pwede dalawa kami diyan, if she runs, out na rin ako."| via @alexisbromero
— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) August 25, 2021
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, PDP-Laban’s executive vice president, also confirmed that Duterte said during the Tuesday meeting that he is “not convinced” to run for vice president if Sara will gun for presidency in the next polls.
In an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source, Nograles said partly in Filipino: “Yes, he said that if Mayor Sara runs then he’s considering not running for vice president.”
“Because, again, he said that the Duterte-Duterte [tandem] to him, and he’s always been consistent on that, that if Duterte-Duterte, to him he’s not convinced that it should happen at least for 2022 national elections,” Nograles continued.
On Wednesday morning, reports quoting an unnamed source said that Duterte mentioned that he and Go would not run in the next polls if Sara Duterte makes a bid for the presidential race.
Plan B
Asked what would be PDP-Laban's plan B, Nograles replied: "We’ll cross the bridge when we get there."
"As far as we are concerned in the PDP-Laban, we cannot predict or know what the goings on are in other parties. We do not know their decision-making process, their endorsement and nomination process. Certainly we have no control over that," he added.
Carpio is the chairperson of the regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago, which fielded senatorial candidates in 2019. In his previous speeches, Duterte said he had discouraged Carpio from running for president to spare her from the "vagaries of politics," including detractors who constantly malign their rivals.
Nograles said an agreement with Hugpong ng Pagbabago is necessary before PDP-Laban can endorse Carpio for president.
“Mayor Sara belongs to a different political party. That being the case, there has to be some sort of an agreement or alliance between the PDP-Laban and the party of Mayor Sara in that eventuality," the cabinet official said.
"I do not want to preempt the decision of our party about that. But in the realm of possibilities, obviously there’s always that possibility of coming up with an alliance with a political party between PDP and another political party or a number of political parties," he added.
The ruling party will nominate its candidates for president, vice president, and senators during its national convention on September 8.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, the vice chairman of the PDP-Laban faction led by administration ally-turned critic Sen. Manny Pacquiao, has questioned the endorsement of Duterte, saying the party has not chosen a candidate for vice president. The senator has said the party would most likely let its candidate for president choose his or her running mate.
Sara: President confirmed planned tandem with Go
But Sara Duterte refuted this and said her father confirmed to her personally that he and Go will be running for the top posts in 2022.
She added that she was only given two options: To endorse the Go-Duterte tandem or have Go as her running mate as vice president.
"I strongly suggest to the president and Senator Go to own up publicly their decision to run as a tandem. If they can confirm it privately, then I do not see the reason why they cannot be candid about it to the public," she added.
Sara Duterte also hit Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III and Ron Munsayac, who are former executives of the administration PDP-Laban, and said she should not be blamed for the "sad state" of the party.
PDP-Laban, which was founded by Pimentel's father Aquilino Jr., saw its ranks swell during the Duterte administration. The party is also now embroiled in an internal row between two factions.
Sen. Pimentel as well as Sen. Manny Pacquiao, party president until the position was declared vacant in an assembly whose legitimacy he questions, are now out of the loop and a faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and supported by President Duterte has billed itself the legitimate PDP-Laban.
"I am not a ‘Last Two Minutes’ person. I think, I organize, and I implement accordingly. In the meantime, I refuse to be a political punching bag for a party in complete disarray," she added.
Sara Duterte leads the regional Hugpong ng Pagbabago party.
‘Smokescreen’ for Sara?
A faction of the PDP-Laban represented by Pacquiao and Pimentel said that the supposed Go-Duterte tandem is "merely a smokescreen [or] distraction for their real candidate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte."
"The Go-Duterte tandem can officially withdraw from the presidential and Vice presidential race at any time from the time of filing of certificates of candidacy up to noontime of election day (in order not to be officially considered to have lost the election), and issue very clear and firm orders to their campaign machinery and supporters to vote for Sara Duterte as president instead of him," the statement from the Pacquiao-led wing read.
"The grassroots members of the party will not allow this to happen," they added.
President Duterte was himself a last-minute candidate, substituting for Martin Diño, a Quezon City barangay chairman whom PDP-Laban initially fielded as its presidential bet.
Davao Mayor Duterte leads pre-election surveys, but has not officially declared plans for the next national elections.
Last month, President Duterte, who has been accused of encouraging human rights abuses in his controversial drug war, floated the idea of joining the vice presidential race in 2022 to gain immunity from suit.
Law experts have noted that there is nothing in the 1987 Constitution that grants immunity to the vice president but Malacañang believes Duterte's remark could be "an opportunity to provoke jurisprudence."
So far, only Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III have confirmed they are running for presidential and vice-presidential posts for the 2022 polls.
Duterte vows to continue 'crusade'
During his pre-recorded public address last Monday, Duterte said he would continue his advocacy against illegal drugs, crime, and insurgency if he becomes vice president.
"I may not have the power to give the direction or guidance, but I can always express my views in public. For whatever it may be worth in the coming days, it would be up to the Pilipinos. I am just here and I will speak out," he added.
Before accepting PDP-Laban's endorsement, Duterte sent mixed signals on calls for him to join the race for vice president next year.
Duterte had said a vice presidential bid was "not at all a bad idea" but had also expressed concern that he would become inutile if the next president is not his political ally.
Last month, Duterte, who has been accused of human rights violations, said he would seek the second highest post to gain immunity from suit but some law experts noted that the Constitution only extends the privilege to the president.
Critics deride Duterte's decision to run for vice president as a "mockery" of the Constitution but his allies insist that he is not barred from seeking another post after his term ends.
— with reports from Bella Perez-Rubio, Xave Gregorio
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