Duterte’s presidential bid now ‘on the table’
After repeated announcements that he will not run for president, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte on Saturday night said he is running for president.
In a text message on Sunday morning, Duterte’s camp confirmed that the mayor said his presidency is now on the table.
“Mayor’s statement was presidency is now on the table,” Duterte’s staff, Romirose Padin said in a text message sent to Philstar.com.
On September, Duterte announced that he is not running for president. He repeated that he is not interested in the presidency during the last day of the filing of the certificate of candidacy.
Reports quoted Duterte as saying that he was urged by his disappointment over the Senate Electoral Tribunal’s ruling on presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe, which junked her disqualification case.
“Basta ako on the table ‘yan. I am running for president, because I am so disappointed and sad sa ruling na ‘yan,” reports quoted Duterte during a private party in Dasmariñas City.
Reports said Duterte attended the party with vice presidential candidate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who was wooing him to run as his presidential candidate weeks leading to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) deadline for filing of certificate of candidacy.
“I’m terribly disappointed. Pwede pala maski hindi natural born. I’ve been warning to everybody, I said I am not interested, it does not appeal to me and I do not have a need for it. Pero ‘pag ganito ang laro ng ating bayan, then the option to run is on the table,” Duterte said during a doctors’ forum in Iloilo City on the same day.
The mayor said the Senate tribunal decision cheapened the presidency. He believes Poe is not a naturalborn Filipino citizen.
“You have a presumptive citizen running the affairs of government. Ay, mahirap ‘yan,” Duterte said.
Duterte said Poe can run for other local official positions such as governor and mayor but he stressed that presidency should be exempted.
CAYETANO IN CEBU
Cayetano also confirmed the report yesterday to a cheering crowd of about 10,000 people at the football of UP Cebu in Lahug, Cebu City during a Rock to Federalism concert, which earlier was aimed at convincing Duterte to throw in the hat in the Presidential race.
In his speech, Cayetano said Duterte was convinced to run because of three things. These include the oppression brought about by “Tanim-Bala” or the scheme at the airport, “Tanim-druga” or the proliferation of illegal drugs, and the “Tanim Citizenship” or the recent decision of SET favoring Poe’s candidacy.
The program started at around 1 p.m. with performances from local artists and bands. The major performers included Thor, Jimmy Bondoc, Luke Mejares, and Paolo Santos who told the crowd they waived their talent fees to join the concert.
Cayetano arrived from Manila at around 4 p.m. to speak at a simultaneous youth forum held in one of the conference rooms at the UP Campus. Cayetano told 300 students his plans to improve the free education system in the country.
Paul Melendez, spokesperson of the Rodrigo Duterte for President Movement, on the other hand said their group spent about P200,000 for the concert venue, equipment, and stage.
This amount was born out of pledges and donations because “we really do not have any money to finance all these.”
The concert had a mixed crowd of senior citizens but majority were young professionals. Melendez said that young volunteers mostly were the ones doing all the leg work in the event.
Duterte, whose roots are from Cebu, also saw support from his local clan here. The Duterte clan was present during the concert showing support for the mayor’s candidacy as President.
No local officials were present except for Provincial Board Member Arliegh Sitoy who is a PDP-Laban member.
In their program, a slot has been allocated for a speech of the Davao City Mayor but had to be changed since he would not be able to make it to the event.
Cayetano in an interview said his tandem with Duterte was already sealed too.
Duterte will start doing the paper works for his substitution, said Cayetano. He will also make a courtesy call to the PDP-Laban officials to ask if the offer still stands.
Duterte said he is fielding his daughter Sara Duterte to run for Davao City mayor to replace him if he runs for president.
PDP’s presidential candidate Martin Diño earlier withdrew his candidacy and placed Duterte as his substitute.
Duterte, the substitute candidate of his political party, is still allowed to run for president according to the Comelec.
He filed his certificate of candidacy for reelection as Davao City mayor.