Duterte’s daughter finally allows him to join presidential race

Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio (Photo from Carpio’s Instagram account)

MANILA – It is again possible for Davao Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte to run for president after he was urged by his eldest daughter, Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio, to seek the country’s highest post in next year’s national elections.

In her Instagram account, Carpio shared a photo of her sporting a buzz cut and captioned it, “Nagpa upaw nalang ko samtang naghulat #Duterte2016 #kalboparasapagbabago #NohairWecare bisan walay kwarta, bisan way makinarya, bisan mapildi #JustDUit.”

(I got my head bald while waiting. #Duterte2016 #baldforchange #NohairWecare Even without money, even without machinery, even if we lose #JustDUit)

https://instagram.com/p/8zPZFGSj-M/

In an earlier post, she shared a photo of her with the text, “Your excellency, don’t shoot your first lady,” and the caption, “Sending #goodvibes to #Digong #Duterte2016 #pussyfooting.”

https://instagram.com/p/8w44Qnyj1B/?taken-by=indaysaraduterte

Apparently, shaving her head was a go-signal for her father to join the presidential race.

It can be recalled that Carpio and the rest of Duterte’s family have been against their patriarch running for president in the coming general elections. Taking into account his family’s opinion over the matter, the Davao Mayor then repeatedly declined calls for him to seek the country’s highest post.

“Do not run for President. You don’t owe anything to anybody, and you’ve done more than enough for your country,” Duterte said, quoting his daughter.

On Tuesday, Carpio shunned a certain Yiani Laguda who called her ‘selfish’ for stopping her father from joining the presidential race. She asked the netizen, “Do you think a wise man and a seasoned politician will decide on the basis of my opinion? You don’t know anything…”

But now that Carpio has given him permission to do so, the clamor for Duterte to run for president has been getting lauder.

“We are hopeful… We will continue to convince him, continue to plead to him, to please listen… I can feel the clamor of a big segment of society for him to go for the presidency, so it will just be up to him to listen to that clamor,” Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III of the PDP-Lapab party, earlier said.

“If you have plans, a clear vision in mind, track record and proven political will, you should run even if you place fifth in the survey. You have to offer the people an alternative. That’s the choice and, from the point of view of our party, that is the essence of democracy,” Pimentel added, believing that it was the tough-talking mayor’s duty to offer his services to the country by running in the May 2016 elections.