HOUSE Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera-Dy said she hopes Sara Duterte-Carpio, President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, will change her decision to run for presidency in the coming national elections instead of running for the third and final term as Davao City mayor.
Herrera-Dy echoed a group’s statement after her father retracted statements he plans to run for vice president. The chief executive’s decision paves the way for the mayor to seek the highest post of the land, the Hugpong para kay Sara (HPS) group said last Sunday.
According to the Commission on Elections, substitution of candidates shall still be allowed until November 15.
Mayor Duterte-Carpio filed her certificate of candidacy (COC) for reelection as Davao City mayor last Saturday.
The president has announced he is retiring from politics “in obedience to the will of the people, who placed him in the presidency many years ago.”
But the Palace said President Duterte would pro-actively campaign for his candidates and make sure that the conduct of the coming 2022 elections would be “free, honest, peaceful and credible.”
The president and his daughter agreed earlier that only one Duterte should run for the national post in the May 2022 elections.
Herrera-Dy said results of a survey shows that majority of the Filipino people still prefer Mayor Sara to be the next president for the next six years “despite her reluctance to seek presidency.”
Duterte’s daughter continues to lead the latest Pulse Asia Survey for the preferred presidential candidates for the May 2022 national elections. The survey conducted from the Sept 6-11 2021 showed 20 percent of the respondents prefer Duterte as their first choice to be their presidential candidate, followed by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. with 15 percent and Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso aka Isko Moreno with 13 percent.
Herrera-Dy claims the number of HPS supporters and chapters continues to swell since September. She added that more than 20,000 HPS members had pledged their loyalty to persuade Mayor Duterte to throw her hat into the presidential derby in 2022.
“Sara’s reluctance to run means she has discernment—a process that includes silence, good counsel and the ability to listen to the voice of the people,” Herrera-Dy said.