President Rodrigo Duterte’s eldest daughter said Friday she would “pray for wisdom” on seeking her father’s post in 2022, about three months after she said she was “not thinking” about seeking the presidency.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said Friday on Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s “Give Us This Day” television program: “Perhaps, so we can avoid mistakes, we should pray for wisdom on how to go about it and how to decide.”
“Everything is easier if it is the plan of God, so I think before I think about that, I should ask God first if this is for me,” said “Inday Sara,” who has established herself as a force in national politics as head of the regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
The mayor had told ABS-CBN News in April that seeking the presidency was not on her mind, and that she intended to serve Davao for three successive 3-year terms, the maximum allowed by the Constitution.
Duterte-Carpio succeeded her father in 2016 when he won the presidency. The President, however, has cautioned his daughter against seeking the post, saying the presidency could “destroy” her.
Candidates supported by Duterte-Caprio’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago swept the senatorial elections last May, giving her father wider influence in the legislature.
She was also among those credited for the ouster of Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez as Speaker in 2018, which led to the rise of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as leader of the House of Representatives.