Editorial: Shake up
DESPITE consistently saying that she will not run for president in the upcoming 2022 National Elections, the supporters of Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio remained hopeful. They continued to call on the mayor to run for president and held caravans to get support.
On November 9, 2021, that hope was further ignited after Davao City Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio withdrew her certificate of candidacy (COC) for mayorship.
She withdrew her COC hours after Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian Z. Duterte withdrew his COC for vice mayorship. Duterte would later return at the Commission on Elections-Davao City (Comelec-Davao City) to file his COC as a substitute to Duterte-Carpio for the position of city mayor. Meanwhile, Atty. Melchor Quitain, Jr. substituted for Duterte.
However, it is still unclear as to what position Duterte-Carpio will run for. There are talks that she may run for vice president while others are hoping that she will eventually run for presidency.
There may be hints as to what position she will be running. Senator Bong Go may have hinted on November 9 that he may not be pursuing his vice presidential bid in the 2022 elections.
"Maaring may magbabago sa mga tatakbong posisyon sa mga darating na araw, ang problema po diyan kailangan umiwas, gustuhin ko man pong magsilbi sa inyo bilang bise president dahil sa kagustuhan ng mahal na pangulo, kailangan ko pong umiwas...malaman niyo po yun sa mga darating araw (There may be changes on those who will be running. As much as I want to serve you as vice president because of the wishes of our beloved president, there is a need for me to take a step back. You will know about this more in the coming days)," Go said in an emotional speech during a Malasakit Center event in Antipolo.
This brings the question, will Duterte-Carpio substitute Bong Go and then run for vice president?
Meanwhile, Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda claimed on Wednesday, November 10, that Duterte-Carpio will be running for president.
"There’s no VP option for her and picking a VP for her is not a problem," Salceda said in an interview on ANC's Headstart.
He added, "I cannot say confirming but based on our long-running chats, kilometric chats--because I provided her with so many big data about her prospects-- I think basically she will make a good president in the first place."
As of 12 noon of November 10, 2021, Duterte-Carpio has yet to make a formal announcement as to the position she will run for or what party she will be running under.
Her recent move is definitely shaking things up in the political scene. Duterte-Carpio's withdrawal made it to the front page of several dailies outside of Davao City and was also a banner story in most mainstream news outfits.
Now, we wait and see how things will go. The next couple of days will definitely be an interesting one.