Duterte tells VP Sara: Don’t seek presidency

DAVAO CITY , Philippines —  If there is one advice former president Rodrigo Duterte would give his daughter Vice President Sara Duterte, it is to forget any plan for the presidency in the 2028 elections.

“They worry about Inday (Sara)? Inday, don’t seek the presidency. If you are hearing this, avoid it. Give it to ambitious ones, instead,” Duterte said during a press conference Sunday in Tacloban City.

And even if Sara ignores his call and eventually becomes president, it would still not guarantee that the country would be better, he said.

The former president also rejected Sara’s earlier pronouncement that he, along with his sons Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte and First District Rep. Paolo Duterte, would all run for the Senate in the 2025 elections.

Duterte said people should not believe everything his daughter says, as sometimes she has the tendency to make jokes.

“Do you believe her? My God. She’ll take you for a ride if you are not asking the correct questions,” he said.

To prove his point, Duterte cited his age, a diminished popularity and lack of funds.

“I won’t go back to politics. I am done. I am no longer popular. I do not have the funds, I have nothing. What is left is my cockiness (yabang na lang),” Duterte said.

“Besides, where could you find a father and his two sons running together for the Senate? What will we do in the Senate?” he added.

The former president also clarified that the group Hakbang ng Maisug is not calling for the ouster or resignation of President Marcos, pointing out that every administration has its own mistakes and that Maisug is just there to call out the mistakes of the Marcos administration.?“Marcos should not lose any sleep. I want him to work for six years. He was voted by the people to work for six years. You do your work there. Do not worry, nobody is interested in removing you. It is a waste of time,” Duterte said. “I am praying that he should live till the end of his term.” ?The Hakbang ng Maisug group has been going around the country, holding prayer rallies to protest against the people’s initiative signature campaign for Charter change.?And even if he is the face of the group, Duterte denied being behind the movement.

“Maisug is not me, and I am not Maisug. There are other people behind it, businessmen. I cannot say anything, but I hope that whenever there is a rally, it should be peaceful,” Duterte said

‘Find your peace’

On the recent tirades of former senator Leila de Lima, Duterte said “she should be at peace with her life now.”

“Even if she submits herself to crucifixion, whatever she would do now, she still shamed the entire generation after her. They will bear her name but the shame will be there,” Duterte said.

“Find your peace where you are now. Don’t look for trouble, you will only regret it. Why would you get back at me? I don’t do rock and roll,” he added, in apparent reference to a video showing De Lima dancing in a rock concert of a convicted drug lord inside the Bilibid prison.

Duterte also warned the International Criminal Court (ICC) over an alleged impending service of a warrant of arrest against him.

“I don’t give a s**t whether they come in. For me, they have no jurisdiction. The Philippines already left ICC. We are not part of the ICC. If they would insist that there is a case there that would warrant my arrest, I will wait for them,” he said.

The former chief executive added that he does not want any official of the Philippine National Police or the National Bureau of Investigation to serve the warrant.

“I want the ICC representative to bring me that paper because the moment that person gives it to me, I will let you eat that paper or I will deliver you to hell,” Duterte said. –  Diana Lhyd Suelto, Miriam Desacada