Duterte dismisses bickering between daughter, Alvarez

February 22, 2018

President Rodrigo Duterte branded on Thursday as "media intrigue" a brewing squabble between Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

In a media interview in Iloilo City, Duterte said Duterte-Carpio and Alvarez could handle the issue between them as they are both lawyers.

"It's just an intrigue. Media again," he said.

The issue between Duterte-Carpio and Alvarez started when the President's daughter led the formation of Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP or Alliance for Change) with four governors from Davao Region joining her.

Some Davao politicians who are with HNP were reportedly kicked out from the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (LDP-Laban) where Alvarez is the secretary general. The President heads PDP-Laban.

Alvarez has said he respects Duterte-Carpio's creation of HNP.  However, the Speaker also called Duterte-Carpio as an "opposition."

In a statement, Duterte-Carpio said the President has the "blessing" in her move to forge cooperation with the Region XI governors.

"Even the use of the word Hugpong as the name of our regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago has the president’s approval. I also specifically informed the president that I will not join PDP Laban," she said.

In a post on her Instagram account, the mayor called Alvarez an "asshole".

"If you're an asshole in Congress, don't bring that to Davao. Leave it in Manila. Somebody should tell the president what you are doing. How dare you call me part of the opposition?," she said, stressing that Alvarez was arrogant.

"You messed with the wrong girl," she added.

She recalled what Alvarez said that he could always impeach Duterte.

In another Instagram post with the photos of all the senators with their corresponding political parties, Duterte-Carpio urged them to tell to the president what Alvarez had done to them.

"The only way the president will know is if you will speak up," she said without elaborating. Celerina Monte/DMS