Duterte run: Door not shut, says aide

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte LITO TECSON/CEBU DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY—One of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s consultants said the door has not been shut for the mayor’s presidential run next year.

Joselito Banayo, a political consultant of Duterte, said in a statement that the mayor is to visit the graves of his mother and father before he decides with finality whether or not to run for President next year.

“I will visit the graves of my father and mother and seek guidance,” Duterte said in a statement.

“Maybe, their spirits will whisper to me,” the mayor added.

Duterte, who told a conference of top Asian chief executive officers in Manila that he is not running for President, had steadily climbed in survey ratings in the presidential race.

He came in third in the latest Pulse Asia survey in June.

Duterte, in a statement quoting him, said the Filipino electorate will be the deciding factor on whether he will run for President or not.

“I’ll just take the challenge when the time comes,” he said. Germelina

Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao