Sara Duterte says she’s not the right person to endorse next Speaker

May 22, 2019

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said she is not the right person to endorse someone to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

This as the presidential daughter revealed that incoming Taguig City Representative Alan Peter Cayetano warned of a break up of the administration coalition if she would endorse Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco as the next Speaker.

"I am only the Mayor of Davao City. I am not the correct person to endorse someone to be the next speaker. I only have a personal bet but do not intend to influence Congress," she said in a statement on Tuesday.

"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.

During the recent midterm elections, many local and national cadidates sought for Duterte-Carpio's endorsement.

The Davao City chief executive, however, said that Cayetano was correct when he said that he did not seek for her endorsement when he came to Davao to talk to her 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.

In an occasion last year, Duterte-Carpio reportedly called Velasco as "Speaker."

Cayetano resigned as President Rodrigo Duterte's secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs to seek for a congressional seat in Taguig. He has expressed his intention to be the Speaker.

Duterte-Carpio also addressed the question on the possibility of her older brother, Davao City 1st District Representative-elect Paolo Duterte, as the next Speaker.

She said this "should best be addressed by our father because he is the President and our patriarch."

The presidential daughter also refused to reconcile with ousted House Speaker and Davao del Norte Representative-elect Pantaleon Alvarez, saying he was "very dangerous."

"I have no intention of accepting Rep. Bebot Alvarez’s offer of reconciliation because 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.

Alvarez, after the midterm polls, said he was offering his "hand in peace" with Duterte-Carpio. He made the offer after admitting that he was interested to be the Speaker again.

Duterte-Carpio, chair of regional political party Hugpong ng Pagbabago, was allegedly behind Alvarez's ouster as Speaker in July last year.

Former President and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo replaced Alvarez. 

Duterte-Carpio also denied the claims made by Surigao del Sur 1st District Representative-elect Prospero Pichay that she "recommended" re-elected Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez as Speaker of the House. 

"If I did raise his hand during the HNP rally in Tacloban, I did so because he, just like Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, is supportive of the reform agenda of President Duterte," she said. Celerina Monte/DMS