PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday evening, November 16, 2021, hosted a dinner meeting with members of Congress, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Wednesday, November 17.
Nograles said it was an “informal and relaxed” gathering between Duterte and lawmakers, many of whom are friends of the President dating back to his days as mayor of Davao City.
"It was, for the President, an opportunity to see friends he had not personally seen since the onset of the pandemic due to the restrictions that had been put in place," he said.
"With active Covid-19 cases now on a steady decline and now that we are feeling the positive impact of the government's vaccination, we expect the President to join similar gatherings with friends and allies in the future," he added.
The said meeting was held the day after Duterte filed his certificate of candidacy for senator in the 2022 national elections, as well as the day his long-time aide Senator Christopher Go filed for presidency, which the latter expressed support to.
Duterte also earlier expressed his disagreement with the decision of her daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to run for the vice presidency putting the blame on presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Marcos and Carpio have confirmed their team-up for the 2022 national elections.
Prior to the meeting, there were reports that there were certain people planning for the removal of House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, who were both staunch political allies of Carpio.