Malacañang denies growing rift between Duterte, Sara

MALACANANG denied that there is a growing rift between President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter, Davao City Mayor and vice-presidential aspirant Sara Duterte-Carpio.

This after the President called Duterte-Carpio's running mate former senator and presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. a “weak leader” and “a spoiled child.”

Duterte-Carpio, during the BBM-Sara Unity Caravan held in Tagum City, Davao del Norte, called on her supporters to protect Marcos.

"Kinahanglan una, paniguraduhon nato nga maprotektahan nato ang atoang pagsuporta. Protektahan nato ang atoang kandidato. Protektahan nato si BBM [Bongbong Marcos] (We need to, first, ensure that we should continue our support for our candidate. We need to protect our candidate. Let us protect BBM)," the mayor said.

Asked whether this is a sign of a widening rift between the father and daughter, Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said it is normal to support different candidates.

“They belong to different political parties at siyempre as with any different political parties, mayroong mga common candidates at may mga candidates na sinusuportahan for other positions ang either party (They belong to different political parties and as with different political parties, they have common candidates and there are other candidates they support for other positions),” he said in a Palace briefing.

“In a political exercise like elections, normal na magkaroon nang ganyan na pagkakaiba na sinusuportahan na kandidato (It is normal to have different candidates to support in a political exercise like the elections),” he added.

Duterte publicly supports the presidential bid of his long-time aide Senator Christopher “Bong” Go and has endorsed his candidacy along with his daughter’s vice-presidential run.

The President earlier revealed he “did not like” his daughter’s decision to run for vice president, especially when she topped surveys on preferred presidential bets.

He speculated that Marcos had something to do with his daughter’s decision.

“I’m sure yung pagtakbo ni Sara desisyon nila Bongbong [Marcos] ‘yun (I’m sure that Sara running for vice president was the decision of Bongbong),” Duterte said.

“Kaya nagtataka ako, sabi ko siya ang number one sa survey, kung bakit siya pumayag na tatakbo lang bise. Siya yung mataas ang rating, eh (That’s why I’m wondering because she’s number one in the surveys. Why did she agree to run for vice president only? She has high ratings),” he added.

Meanwhile, Duterte-Carpio said during the caravan that she chose to be the running mate of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. because she believes in his political experience.