Amid fresh talks of her possibly succeeding her father President Rodrigo Duterte in 2022, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has said she would leave the presidency issue to God.
This came after Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo said having another Duterte as president would not be surprising, given the prevalence of political dynasties in the country. Duterte-Carpio, who heads the Hugpong ng Pagbabago regional political party, said she was not opening or closing the possibility of her running for president in the next elections.
“We live a life that is controlled by God. I am not open or closed, where God leads me there I’ll be,” Duterte-Carpio told Manila Times in a text message.
The Davao mayor has been touted by several key figures of the administration and its allies as the president’s possible replacement when he steps down in 2022. But the president had warned his daughter against seeking his post, saying the presidency could “destroy” her. The president’s eldest daughter earlier told this newspaper that she was “not thinking” about seeking the presidency.
But she later said she would decide by January 2021.
On Friday, Robredo said she was keeping her options open for a possible presidential bid in 2022, while acknowledging that “another Duterte” could emerge as president.
“If you ask me now, I have no plans, but I am leaving everything open,” Robredo said in an interview with Bloomberg. “I wouldn’t have run for the vice presidency if I didn’t feel I was ready for the presidency.”
“A lot can still happen. If you look at the history of many of our elections, one year spells a lot of difference. When I ran for the vice presidency, filed my certificate of candidacy in October of 2015. Two months before that, it was still not in the plan,” Robredo said.
The vice president said being president “is a destiny.”
The president had said he did not want Robredo to be his successor. “I don’t think she can ever be ready to govern a country. Reason? Incompetence,” the chief executive said.