Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio is the most qualified to run for president in the next elections, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
Even as President Duterte discouraged his daughter from seeking the highest elective post in the land, Roque said recent survey showed that Sara is the leading contender in the presidential polls next year.
“Sa tingin ko si Mayor Inday Sara siya ang pinaka-qualified, pinakahanda. As survey showed, kung tatakbo siya, siya talaga ang mananalo,” he said in an interview with DZRH Friday.
Roque said Sara is expected to make “the right decision at the right time” on what will be good for her father and the nation.
The President had earlier said his daughter was not running for president in the next polls. Duterte advised his daughter not to run for president since the presidency is not a woman’s job.
Duterte apparently wanted to spare his daughter from the pains of the presidency that include long work hours and criticisms and insults.
“My daughter, inuudyok man nila. Sabi ko, my daughter, is not running. I have told Inday not to run because naaawa ako sa dadaanan nya na dinaanan ko,” Duterte said during the inauguration of the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 in Quezon City Thursday.
A recent Pulse Asia survey showed that 26 percent of the 2,400 respondents would vote for Mayor Duterte should she decide to run in the 2022 elections.
In the survey, she received majority preference from Mindanao with 58 percent, followed by Visayas with 29 percent, Metro Manila with 16 percent, and the rest of Luzon with 12 percent.
The next choices were former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Sen. Grace Poe who got the support of 14 percent of survey respondents.
