Duterte’s chief legal counsel calls Ellen Tordesillas ‘mababaw’ over remarks vs Sara Duterte

By Prince Golez

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo denied claims of veteran journalist Ellen Tordesillas that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio was only pretending to be uninterested in the presidential race, calling the Vera Files founder as “mababaw.”

In her February 8 article “Sara Duterte plays ‘jele jele bago quiere” published in ABS-CBN news, Tordesillas said that Sara was employing her father’s, President Rodrigo Duterte, strategy in 2016 when he initially refused to run for the highest elective post.

“Alam mo Ellen, mababaw ka rin ‘no?” Panelo said during his commentary show “Counterpoint” last Sunday.

“Hindi naman nagbabago ang kanyang position na ayaw niya talaga tumakbo. In fact, when she said that [she] will only run if the opposition will support her, that even strengthens her posturing kasi she’s imposing an impossible condition because no opposition will support her,” he explained.

Last January 15, Sara said she has no intention of running for president in the next elections. “I am not being coy nor am I doing a last minute. If the whole country doesn’t want to believe that, then I can’t do anything about it. Not everyone wants to be president. I am one of them,” she told Reuters.

But, on January 31, the presidential daughter hinted at 2034 presidential bid if she has the support of the opposition.

“A president only has six years to help. I will not be able to do the job well if we are not united. If we want to lift our fellowmen out of poverty, we need all hands on deck working hard and not spend the next six years wringing each other’s necks,” the mayor said in an interview with GMA News.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)