PRRD looking forward to end of term in 2022: Palace

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse, Malacañang Park in Manila on November 12, 2020. KING RODRIGUEZ/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte is looking forward to the end of his six-year term in June 2022 so that he could return to his hometown Davao City, Malacañang said Monday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this statement as Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo floated anew the idea of a Duterte-Duterte tandem in the 2022 elections when President Duterte could take on the vice presidency while his daughter and Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte could run for president in the 2022 national and local elections.

“Ang pagkakaalam ko po eh atat na atat na si Presidenteng matapos ang kaniyang termino’t gusto na niyang umuwi dito sa Davao ‘no. So iyong Duterte-Duterte tandem po na sinasabi ni Secretary Panelo, iyan po ay kaniyang personal na opinion (What I know is the President can’t wait until the end of his term because he really wants to return to Davao. So the Duterte-Duterte tandem that Secretary Panelo is saying is his personal opinion),” Roque said in a virtual presser.

Duterte served as the vice mayor of Davao City when his daughter was the mayor from 2010 to 2013.

While both Duterte and his daughter have yet to react to Panelo’s remarks, the Duterte-Duterte tandem has been welcomed by their friends and supporters.

The President has been very vocal about his intent to step down after his term since he is not aspiring to become “a politician forever.”