Former President Rodrigo Duterte has belied his daughter Vice President Sara Duterte’s announcement that three Dutertes — the former president and the incumbent mayor and congressman of Davao City — will be seeking Senate seats in the 2025 elections.
“Maniwala kayo kay Inday? I-jamming ka niyan nang husto… Saan ka nakakita, tatay dalawang anak magtakbo [sa Senado]… Wag kayong kumagat kay Inday kasi ‘yan si Inday kagaya ko rin ‘yan,” Duterte told reporters in Tacloban City on Sunday.
Duterte and his daughter were both last-minute candidates for national positions and had initially filed candidacies for mayor of Davao City.
On June 25, Vice President Duterte “confirmed” that her father and two brothers Baste and Paolo would be running for senator in 2025, saying that was what her mother told her.
The supposed announcement has revived discussion of dynastic politics in the Philippines and the failure of Congress — which is dominated by political clans — to pass legislation to enable a ban on political dynasties laid down in the 1987 Constitution.
Duterte sad it would be “bizarre” to have him and his two sons in the Senate.
“Anong gagawin namin sa Senate…Anong gagawin namin doon?” he said.
‘I WILL NOT GO BACK TO POLITICS’
But the Duterte patriarch said he no longer has the political capital, nor the funds, to reenter the political arena after his term ended in 2022.
“Hindi na ako babalik ng politika. Tapos na po ako. Laos na ako. Wala na akong panggastos, wala na lahat. Ang naiwan sa akin siguro yabang,” Duterte said.
Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Manila Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada sought local elective positions after their terms as president. Former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos remained active on political issues after retirement but did not seek office.
Former President Benigno Aquino III mostly kept a private life after the 2016 elections.
Meanwhile, Duterte also said he does not know the reason for his daughter’s resignation from the Marcos Jr Cabinet.
“I really don’t know the reason, I don’ t talk to my daughter… Sara has her own mind, we do not talk ganito sa trabaho niya. May distansya kami ni Sara,” Duterte said.
