Sara Duterte’s birthday wish for President Duterte: Good health, happiness

FILE PHOTO” President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan to witness the Ceremonies of the Accession to the Throne of His Majesty Emperor Naruhito on October 22, 2019. KING RODRIGUEZ/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO, FILE

STA. CRUZ, Laguna — Vice presidential candidate Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio has two birthday wishes for her father, President Rodrigo Duterte: Good health and happiness.

President Duterte will celebrate his 77th birthday on March 28.

“Mr. President, happy birthday. I wish you good health and happiness,” Duterte-Carpio told reporters Thursday when asked if she has any birthday message for her father.

Duterte-Carpio earlier said she has not been talking with her father regarding her vice presidential bid.

During an interview with Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar late February, President Duterte said he had talked to his daughter only once about politics “months ago.”

“We do not talk about politics — except for once. But I don’t want to discuss it because it was not good. It was between father and daughter. But it was also a conversation about politics,” President Duterte said when asked about her daughter’s tandem with former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

President Duterte’s faction in the PDP-Laban adopted Duterte-Carpio as its vice presidential candidate back in January. The same faction also endorsed Marcos’ presidential bid on Tuesday.

Following the faction’s endorsement of Marcos, Andanar said the move was a “collegial decision” of the party but it does not mean that it is the personal decision of the President.

To recall, President Duterte once called Bongbong Marcos a “weak leader.”

/MUF