‘I want to remain wild and free’: Sara Duterte rules out last minute presidential bid as she stands by reelection plan

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte maintained she will not run for president despite speculation she will aim to succeed her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, in a bid to protect him from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a series of messages to ABS-CBN reporter RG Cruz Thursday (Sept. 16), Sara said she will seek reelection alongside her brother, Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte.

Duterte will drop VP ambitions only if daughter Sara or Martin Romualdez runs for same post

Sara said she will file her certificate of candidacy (COC) for mayor on October 1 or 2, “selecting the time where there is least people gathering in the Comelec site.”

The mayor dismissed the possibility that she will eventually run for president as the substitute candidate of a national political party like her father did.

Duterte in 2015 filed his COC as the substitute candidate of PDP-Laban for president, a few months after submitting a COC for mayor. He replaced barangay captain Martin Diño.

“I will not file my COC for president on Oct. 8. And substitution is not an option, I cannot join a national political party because they are all my friends, I cannot pick one over the other. I want to remain wild and free,” said Sara, who founded her own regional party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago.

Asked about the speculation that she will run for president to protect her father, Sara said: I will run for President because I can serve our country. My father is THE Rodrigo Duterte. He taught me not to rely on anyone for help.”

The ICC on Wednesday (Sept. 15) gave the go signal for an investigation to be launched on the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs. The opposition has said that the President will be held accountable for the supposed crime against humanity committed during his rule after he steps down.

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