FILE PHOTO: House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez. INQUIRER
MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang believes that President Rodrigo Duterte will keep his promise and drop his plan to run for vice president in 2022 should House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez decides to also vie for the second-highest government position.
Duterte said in June that he will support Romualdez if ever the congressman pursues running for the vice presidency next year.
“I believe the President said he is a man of his word so dahil binitawan niyang salita na kung tatakbo si Congressman Romualdez, susuportahan niya , I believe if Congressman Romualdez will run, he [Duterte] will not run for vice president,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Palace briefing.
However, Roque said there is “no indication” that Romualdez will run so the President does not need yet to back out from the 2022 vice presidential race.
Duterte earlier said he promised to support Romualdez’s vice presidential bid after he asked the latter to step down from the running of House speakership.
READ: Duterte says he will not run for VP if Romualdez vies for same post
While Romualdez said he is keeping his options open for the upcoming polls, he believes Duterte is the “strongest” vice-presidential candidate in 2022.
On Tuesday night, Duterte bared his intentions to seek the vice presidency next year.
Roque also said Duterte has decided to run for vice president because he thinks his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, will not compete for president in the upcoming polls.