DAVAO CITY, Philippines – For Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, to be the country’s president is a person’s destiny.
“The presidency is destiny talaga. Destiny,” Duterte said in an interview with Sonshine Radio here a few minutes after he met with Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas here Friday evening.
But Duterte maintained on Friday that he had no plans of running for any national position. He defended his “Listening Tours” around the country as purely about his advocacy for federalism in the Philippines.
“I have said it before, just because I am going around promoting federalism does not mean I am running,” Duterte said.
The hard-talking and controversial mayor has been saying he has no financial capacity for the campaign and that he is already too old to engage in national politics.
With Vice President Jejomar Binay offering him to be his running mate next year, Duterte said it was an honor to be invited to become vice president but he did not want to be an “inutile” politician.
Duterte shared that his meeting with Roxas and televangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy was not political. Roxas uses Quiboloy’s hangar for his private plane and helicopter when he is in the area, according to a source.
“He was passing by and he wanted to talk to me. If you want to know if it is political or not, it is not. We did not discuss it,” Duterte said, referring to 2016 elections and alignments.
But Duterte calls Roxas his friend.
“Of all the candidates, Mar is the closest to me,” Duterte said.
But the Davao City mayor said that Roxas was not able to share his political plans during their short meeting.
“He did not mention it anyway and I don’t want to sound presumptuous. Maybe he wanted to ask me whether I am running or not and he can’t bring it to himself to ask,” Duterte said. SFM/AC