‘Count me out’ as Davao mayor, says ‘tired’ Duterte

Rodrigo Duterte —PDP-Laban photo

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte, describing himself as already too old to serve again as the city’s top executive, said he should be counted out in next year’s mayoral race.

He made this remark on Nov. 7 when local reporters asked him what people could expect if he returned to the helm of the city government.

“Wala na ako diyan (count me out), I am retired, hindi na ako babalik, wala na akong babalikan, ibigay ko na sa next generation (I’m not coming back, there’s nothing to come back to, I’m giving it to the next generation),” Duterte, who turns 80 next year, said.

READ: Karlo Nograles files candidacy for Davao City mayor

“I don’t want it, I leave it to God, the next mayor doesn’t have to be a Duterte,” he said in Filipino. He added that he would give other people the chance to run the city.

Duterte has filed his candidacy for mayor, pitting him against former Civil Service Commission Chair Karlo Nograles, who served in his Cabinet.

His tandem with son Sebastian, the incumbent mayor, is widely seen as an attempt to stop other politicians from snatching away the mayoral seat from the family’s control. A Duterte family member has held the post since 1988, except from 1998 to 2001.

Another change of mind

Most people, however, were in a wait-and-see mode, as the former President had been known to constantly change his mind. Amid consistent public denials that he was not seeking the presidency in 2016, Duterte eventually substituted for a placeholder as PDP-Laban standard-bearer.

Former Rep. Ruy Elias Lopez, a former Duterte ally, chose to take the former President’s words as just among many pronouncements that he usually spews. “Based on my interaction and experience with former President Duterte, I have made the conclusion that any political statement of the former President had to be treated with a grain of salt,” said Lopez, son of the late Elias Lopez, former mayor of Davao City who supported the young Duterte when he first ran as mayor here in 1988.

The younger Lopez parted ways with Duterte in 2007 when the latter announced he was fielding his daughter, now Vice President Sara Duterte, to run as his vice mayor. Duterte was then running for mayor.

Political rival

Nograles, in the meantime, understood the former President’s desire to retire from politics.

“Former President Rodrigo Duterte has served in government for the better part of his adult life and he turns 80 years old next year, so his desire to retire from politics is understandable,” said Nograles, son of the late Speaker Prospero Nograles, who was considered Duterte’s political archrival until the two patched up in 2016 when the Nograleses supported his bid for president.

“Davao City has come a long way since he first became mayor 36 years ago in 1988, and former President Duterte is right that the next generation is capable of sustaining Davao’s development,” the young Nograles said.

He added, however, that ultimately, it was still up to the people of Davao City to decide the fates of all those running in next year’s elections.