FILE PHOTOS Presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
MANILA, Philippines — Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said his certificate of candidacy (COC) for senator in the 2022 elections is ready, but he will wait if Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will seek the presidency before he files.
Roque reiterated his statement in June that he will only join the Senate race if Duterte-Carpio will run for president.
“Minsan na akong nagsabi na tatakbo lang ako kapag tatakbo si Mayor Sara,” he said.
(I already said that I will only run for senator if Mayor Sara runs for president.)
“Handa ang aking COC, bukas ang last day. Mag-vigil kami rito Malacañang kung sakaling maghahain ng COC si Mayor Sara for president,” he added.
(My COC is ready. Tomorrow is the last day of filing. We will have a vigil here in Malacañang if ever Mayor Sara will file a COC for president.)
Duterte-Carpio earlier filed her certificate of candidacy for reelection as Davao mayor, which makes it seem that she is ultimately dropping her bid to be her father’s successor in 2022.
In September, she said she would not run for president in the 2022 polls, citing her agreement with her father, President Duterte, that only one of them would vie for a national position.
The President had previously announced his intention to run for vice president, having accepted his party’s PDP-Laban nomination, going so far as signing a certificate of nomination and acceptance.
However, in a suprise move on Oct. 2, he said he will be retiring from politics, and accompanied his long-time aide, Senator Bong Go in filing his certificate of candidacy for vice president.
He later on said in an ambush interview in Makati that Duterte-Carpio will run for president with Go as her running mate.
However, in her latest statement, Duterte-Carpio said she wants to finish her last term as Davao mayor before she moves on to other positions.
Should she win in the 2022 elections, she would be serving her third consecutive term as mayor of Davao City. She had won the mayoralty four times — the first time in 2010 to 2013, then again in 2016-2019, and lastly in 2019 until 2022.
The last day of filing of COCs is on Friday, Oct. 8.