(Eagle News)—Davao Mayor Sara Duterte on Wednesday, May 21, said she was not the “correct person” to endorse someone as speaker of the House of Representatives, saying she was “only the Mayor of Davao City.”
The presidential daughter made the remark as she addressed several issues concerning congressmen who aspire for the post, which will be vacant after the newly elected congressmen are proclaimed.
Duterte for instance denied claims she was endorsing the speakership bid of Rep. Martin Romualdez, saying she only raised his hand during the Hugpong ng Pagbabago rally in Tacloban because Romualdez, like Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, is “supportive of the reform agenda of President (Rodrigo) Duterte.”
“There is no truth to the claims made by Rep. Prospero Pichay..,” she said.
As for former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s “offer of reconciliation,” she said she has “no intention of accepting” it.
She said the offer “was deceiving and utterly lacked sincerity.”
“Unknown to him, he was surreptitiously videotaped when he threatened, after his win in the recent elections in Davao del Norte, ‘Ipapahiya ko si Sara.’ Alvarez was and he remains to be a very dangerous, machiavellian individual who does not deserve peace,” she said.
In her statement, the Davao mayor also affirmed Congressman-elect Alan Peter Cayetano’s claims he did not seek her endorsement when he came to Davao sometime last year.
“He, however, came with a veiled threat, that if I endorse Rep. Velasco for Speaker, I would break up the ‘group.’ And this, he said, will affect the presidential elections of 2022,” she said.
As for whether her brother Paolo Duterte, who was elected as Davao representative in the recent polls, was interested in the speakership, she said this “should best be addressed by our father because he is the President and our patriarch.”
“In sum..I only have a personal bet but do not intend to influence Congress,” she said.
“It is best if the newly elected members of the House of Representatives individually decide who among those who are interested to become the next Speaker can truly bring good governance and positive change to congress, to the Filipino people, and to our country,” she added.