DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio appeared on a 1:43-minute video on Sunday to explain her decision to run for a vice-presidential seat despite repeated pronouncements she was not keen on running for the Presidency.
She pointed at the repeated call of her supporters that prompted her to discard her erstwhile stand to stick to her mayoral candidacy.
In Filipino, she said she would not let her supporters “cry again” on November 15 after they did on October 8 when she publicly announced she was rejecting all calls to run for the Presidency.
She did not explain why she opted only for the vice-presidency when she was several notches ahead in the survey, even from the current frontrunning presidential candidate, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, whose party has officially adopted her as guest vice presidential candidate.
She only said that “after the deadline the offer to run as vice president became an opportunity to meet you halfway”. She said it was chance “to allow me to call to serve our country and make me a stronger person and public servant in the years ahead. I am here to answer your call.”
Her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, said she did not understand why Sara settled for a vice-presidential run when she was way ahead In the survey for preferred Presidential candidates. Duterte said her daughter’s decision was hers and that of Marcos Jr.
She was running at 20 percent preference from next choice, Marcos Jr. at 12 percent. The rest of the pack were running at less than ten percent of Filipino voters’ preference.
On her father’s fragmented party, the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) which she criticized, she said its problems were their own. “Let them resolve the problems on their own. This is all politics and this will not matter in the years to come. Or even now when we need to focus on the country’s recovery and the
people’s welfare.”
“I appeal to all supporters to stay calm. So, let us all be circumspect and stay the call, focus on forging relationships, to unite for the good of our country,” she added.
“As we settle down for a peaceful Sunday let us reflect on the words from Brahma Kuhmaris: The drama of life consists of elements of both destiny and freedom of choice,” she said.
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