MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is already looking forward to ending his term and returning to his hometown Davao City in 2022.
This was according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque after Duterte’s chief legal counsel, Secretary Salvador Panelo, floated the idea of a “Duterte-Duterte” tandem in 2022, with the older Duterte as Vice President and his daughter, incumbent Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, as President.
“Ang pagkakaalam ko po eh atat na atat na si Presidenteng matapos ang kanyang termino at gusto na niyang umuwi dito sa Davao,” Roque said in an online briefing on Monday.
(From what I know, the President is already in a rush to end his term and he wants to return to Davao.)
“’Yung Duterte-Duterte tandem po na sinasabi ni Sec. Panelo, ‘yan po ay kanyang personal na opinyon,” he added.
(The Duterte-Duterte tandem is only Sec. Panelo’s personal opinion.)
In his program aired over state-run People’s Television, Panelo said the opposition would not stand a chance of winning against a Duterte-Duterte tandem in the upcoming 2022 elections.
But in the past, Duterte has repeatedly cautioned his daughter against following his footsteps saying he himself regrets running for president.
Duterte-Carpio, on the other hand, previously said she is not closing her doors on such a possibility, adding she would possibly decide by January 2021.