No presidential run for Sara

REELECTION Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio disappoints supporters when she opts to file a certificate for candidacy for reelection on Oct. 2. —PHOTO FROM MAYOR SARA INDAY DUTERTE FACEBOOK

DAVAO CITY — “We waited till the end. But the end was not what we expected.”

This was how Peter Tiu Laviña, convener of Sara All Philippines 2022, summed up the experience of groups who had hoped that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio would heed their call and file her certificate of candidacy (COC) for president on Friday.

But neither the mayor nor a representative showed up before the COC filing closed at 5 p.m. at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza hotel in Pasay City.

Expectations she would show up arose when her father, President Duterte, went to the filing venue to lend support to his chosen bets for senator as they filed their respective candidacies.

Duterte-Carpio filed a COC on Oct. 2 seeking a third and final term as Davao’s chief executive, dousing cold water on calls for her to seek the presidency.

Still, groups like Laviña’s clung to the hope there was still time to withdraw her mayoral candidacy in favor of a presidential run.

On Thursday, Duterte posted a thank-you note for supporters and volunteers, which upped the expectations that she may have changed her mind.

When Vice President Leni Robredo decided to run for president, some of the mayor’s supporters speculated she might also run for the position. Her supporters then came up with profile picture of them and their memes in green just as supporters of the Vice President had theirs in pink.

The City Hall façade also turned green the entire night until Friday morning.

Substitute?

However, around 2 p.m. on Friday, Duterte-Carpio posted a statement on her official Facebook page saying she is standing pat on her reelection bid.

“I am presenting myself to the Dabawenyos as mayor for the third and last time in my life as a politician,” Duterte said.

The post got about 27,000 reactions and 3,100 comments within an hour.

But it was widely believed that the filing of COC for president of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa under the Duterte-identified faction of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan was the administration’s last-ditch effort to provide Duterte-Carpio an opportunity to be a substitute candidate, which is allowed under election rules, up to Nov. 15.

Laviña said Duterte-Carpio’s supporters were “brokenhearted” but that they respected her decision to finish her last term in Davao City.