Vice President Sara Duterte revealed on Saturday that outgoing Davao City Second District Representative Vincent Garcia was supposedly their original candidate for the congressional race in District 2 for the 2025 National and Local Midterm Elections.
According to the vice president, when they were finalizing their slate of candidates in January 2024, she was asked to tell Garcia to seek his last term.
“In January 2024 pa lang, nandito pa si PRD, wala pa yung dalawang candidates, si Omar at si Rigo, wala pa sila because at that time, January 2024, wala sila sa listahan ng mga kandidato. Ang nandoon lang, January 2024, si PRD, si Mayor Baste, si Congressman Pulong at ako. Kaming apat plus yung team, na hindi ko na lang pangalanan kung sino sila, pero nagpapasalamat ako sa kanila and we still continue to work with them,” the vice president shared.
The vice president said that before the deadline for the filing of the certificate of candidacy (CoC) last year, she was told to reach out to Garcia, however, the latter refused to talk to her.
“Sinasabihan namin siya (Garcia) na siya lang ang tumakbong congressman. At, at the time, ayaw na niya makipag-usap sa akin. Siya lang ang pwedeng tumakbo. Sinabi naming ang gusto ipaabot kay Congressman Vincent Garcia at the time ay kung pwede lang sana siya lang ang tumakbong congressman. Noong wala nang makipag-usap sa amin, hindi na ako sinasagot and then nakita na namin at nalaman na namin kung sino yung tatakbo sa 2nd District. Kaya nilagay namin as candidate si Omar Duterte,” she said.
Omar Vincent, son of Davao City First District Representative Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, ran against Javi Garcia Campos, nephew of Rep. Garcia who was also a former member of the Duterte-backed political party Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod (HTL).
Campos, who shifted and ran under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) chaired by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., lost against Omar with a big margin.
The vice president mentioned that a governor of Isabela and a mayor of Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur meddled in the issue.
“So, hindi ko alam bakit, alam mo yun, bakit niya (Garcia) papayagan ba na merong mga hindi taga Davao City na makialam sa Davao City,” Duterte said.
The vice president disclosed she has been reaching out to Garcia to talk to him, however, according to the vice president, the latter is not responding to her messages.
“Gusto ko siya kausapin. Nag-reach out kami. Hindi ko alam kung yesterday or the other day. And hanggang ngayon hindi siya sumasagot sa messages. So, I guess bigyan lang natin ng time si Congressman Vincent Garcia. Because nagkasama din kasi kami sa trabaho and he was very supportive of the City Hall when I was Mayor, then to the Office of the Vice President when he was Congressman,” she said.
The vice president said she just wanted to thank Garcia for his support when she was mayor of Davao City and to the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
“O sige, dito ko nalang sabihin kasi ayaw naman niya ako kausapin na. I just wanted to thank him. I thank him for his support when I was mayor, congressman din siya and I wanted to thank him as well for his support to the Office of the Vice President particularly kapag nandoon kami sa House of Representatives. And I wanted to tell him na huwag naman sana siyang pumayag na ang hindi mga taga Davao City tulad nga ng mayor ng Sta. Cruz at governor of the Province of Isabela, makialam sa atin dito sa siyudad ng Davao,” she said.
“Kung ano iyong kailangan ayusin dito sa syudad ng Davao, ano iyong dapat trabahuin sa siyudad ng Davao, tayo-tayo mga taga-Davao ang mag-usap. Hindi iyong papayag siya na mayroong mga kandidato na hindi taga Davao dito sa siyudad ng Davao,” the vice president added.
The Dutertes and Garcias have been allied since 1988 when the late Congressman Manuel ‘Nonoy’ Garcia and the late mayor Elias Lopez supported former President Rodrigo Duterte when he first run as mayor of the city.
