Sara Duterte still undecided on 2019 midterm polls bid

“I don’t know yet. We will decide usually by tradition, one or two months before election, depending on the surveys, depending on the capacity to run a campaign,” said the presidential daughter in an interview after attending the hearing of the petition for registration of her political party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) Party as a regional political party at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Intramuros, Manila Tuesday afternoon.(Photo: City Government of Davao/Facebook)

MANILA — Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte admitted that she is still thinking whether to run in local or national position in the forthcoming May 2019 midterm polls.

She revealed that by tradition, they usually decide a month or two before the scheduled polls.

“I don’t know yet. We will decide usually by tradition, one or two months before election, depending on the surveys, depending on the capacity to run a campaign,” said the presidential daughter in an interview after attending the hearing of the petition for registration of her political party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) Party as a regional political party at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Intramuros, Manila Tuesday afternoon.

Asked on what position she is targeting, Duterte said, “None yet. It all depends on the foes, availability of funds, also on the winnability. It all depends on those factors.”

She also joked that she might run in the Vice Presidential race, when asked if she’s open to any position.

“Vice President? Joke only. Yeah, I’m open (to any position),” Duterte said.

The local chief executive of Davao also revealed that her father, President Rodrigo Duterte does not give them advice on what position they would seek.

“He leaves it up to us if we really want to run for the 2019 elections,” she noted.

On the other hand, she is hoping that the poll body will grant her petition.

“Well, I cannot speak for the commissioners, but we pray that they will give us a favorable decision on the petition,” Duterte said.

“The commissioners asked questions about the application, and they were duly answered by our lawyers, and we were asked to submit our memorandum in five days,” she added.

The Davao City mayor explained that they filed the petition to be recognized as a regional political party in Region 11.

“Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP Laban) is not a regional party. PDP Laban is a national political party. In Davao City, what we want to create is bloc voting for Region 11. That’s why we need a regional political party because a lot of members of HNP have different national political party affiliations,” she added.

PDP Laban is the political party of the president.