Questions surround Duterte’s ‘run’ for Presidency
Has Mayor Rodrigo Duterte really said he will run for President in 2016?
According to former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, Duterte has confirmed a news article in which he was quoted as saying, “If only to save this Republic, I could run for President.”
In a message to Edge Davao, Dureza said he called Duterte on Wednesday to ask if the quote, taken from the Manila Times, was accurate.
“I called him to confirm. He confirmed,” he said.
Edge Davao pressed Dureza to clarify exactly what it was that Duterte clarified since the mayor was quoted as saying he “could” run for President, not that he “will” run for President.
“He confirmed that the article was accurate, so please refer to it,” Dureza replied.
Duterte had been consistently saying he has no interest in running for President and that, even if he did, he did not have the money to mount a campaign.
In a recent interview, Duterte again denied planning to run for President but added that he was also “a liar.”
The mayor, however, has clearly outlined what he would do if he were to become President, including abolishing Congress and forming a revolutionary government.
Duterte is currently on a nationwide “listening tour” to push for federalism, but observers have been saying he is also using the tour to get a pulse of the people to see if he has a chance in the presidential race.
It was in one such listening tour that Duterte said he “could run for President.”
He was speaking to around 2,000 participants to the First Federalism Forum in Northern Luzon at the Lyceum-Northwestern University when he said, “If only to save this Republic, I could run for President.”
“I could make this sacrifice if only to save this country from being fractured,” he was also quoted as saying.
Supporters have been rejoicing over this on social media, saying it was a “categorical” statement that he was running despite Duterte’s use of the word “could” – which denotes tentativeness – instead of “will.”
Dureza posted the news article on his Facebook timeline and said, “Finally!! For a moment I was not sure whether indeed, he said so. So I personally called him to re-confirm. It’s a yes!”
There was still no categorical announcement from Duterte as of press time. Edge Davao
