Roque bares Sara Duterte’s last-minute appeal for him to run for Senate

MANILA, Philippines — On the last day of filing certificates of candidacy, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio had called presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to convince him to run for Senate in the 2022 elections despite her own decision not to join the presidential race.

“On the last day of COC filing, Mayor Sara called me and she in fact said that I should run. She was persuading me to run,” Roque said in a Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.

“I told her na ang hirap naman tumakbo na hindi ko talaga alam kung sino man lang ‘yung ulo, how much more ‘yung ulo na I do not believe in kaya, although she was persuading me na ‘go ahead and run’, I said I will not,” he added.

(I told her that it’s difficult to run when I do not know who the leader is, how much more when I do not believe in the leader. So, although she was persuading me to run, I said I will not.)

Roque had said that he will only run for senator if Duterte-Carpio will seek the presidency. She eventually filed for reelection as mayor of Davao City, despite efforts of her father, President Rodrigo Duterte to convince her to follow in his footsteps in Malacañang, and even shelving his initial plans to seek the vice presidency.

Roque said he is yet to meet again with the Davao city mayor to discuss a possible “party building” for Duterte-Carpio’s supporters.

He said he had intended to meet with Duterte-Carpio this week but the Davao city mayor recently contracted COVID-19 and is currently in isolation.

“I still feel strongly na I will need to have a conversation with her to discuss how to deal with supporters who until now are hoping that she will run,” he said.

If he decides to run for the Senate, Roque can still do so as the People’s Reform Party (PRP) announced that it has a slot for Roque in its senatorial slate.

EDV