MANILA, Philippines — Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Thursday urged congressmen to wait for President Rodrigo Duterte’s choice for the next House Speaker.
But if the President won’t endorse anyone, lawmakers should decide based on their own choice, she said.
The Presidential daughter admitted that members of Congress have been calling her to ask for her “personal bet” in the House Speakership race.
“Whenever Congressmen call me and ask, I always say to wait for the pronouncement of PRD on who is his choice. Otherwise, they decide based on their personal choice,” Duterte-Carpio said in a Viber message to INQUIRER.net
In a video shared by Davao City Public Information Officer Jefry Tupas, Duterte-Carpio celebrated her 41st birthday in Singapore with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco and his wife, Wen.
The mayor earlier said she had her “personal bet” for the speakership but did not disclose any name.
READ: Sara Duterte unfazed as Cayetano ‘threatens’ to bolt admin
Is Velasco her personal bet after they were seen together celebrating her birthday in Singapore?
“We are friends even beyond politics,” she said, adding that she “would not know how it is seen by other Congressmen.”
Aside from Velasco, the front-runners in the Speakership race include Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), and former Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano of Nacionalista Party (NP).
Duterte-Carpio said Cayetano and Romuladez are her friends.
She earlier refused to reconcile with Alvarez whom he described as “a very dangerous, Machiavellian individual who does not deserve peace.”
READ: Sara Duterte refuses to reconcile with ‘dangerous’ Alvarez
Duterte-Carpio is widely believed to be behind the ouster of Alvarez as House Speaker in July 2018. (Editor: Eden Estopace)