Ben Madilynn
“Well, I cannot really say for certain but for me personally, I hope he will run again for mayor. I want him to be mayor still of Davao City,” he said during the Aprubado sa Konseho presscon at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
As of now, he has not personally discussed any election-related topic to the mayor.
“The mayor is very busy right now running the city. It’s one of his priorities at the moment. He’s more concerned with the welfare of… what’s going on with the city right now,” the vice mayor said.
Quitain, who is on his first term, has no concrete political plans yet for the upcoming elections, saying he will let his political party, Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod (HTL), decide on it.
“Whatever the party decides on whose going to run for that office, I will abide to that,” he said.
The official said the party has yet to conduct a meeting to discuss the plans for the upcoming elections. He has not mentioned if the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), the regional party founded by the mayor’s sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, will be invited.
The young Duterte was also appointed as the party’s executive vice president.
Quitain said that based on HTL’s bylaws, joining a national party is allowed for as long as the two parties have the same “ideals” and “principles.”
Duterte has not issued any statement as of writing. However, he denied in a previous interview that he is gunning for a national position, in response to his sister Sara’s statement saying that her brothers, including Davao City First District Paolo Duterte, and her father, the former president, will be running for Senate.
Davao City Third District Representative Isidro Ungab, also a member of HTL, also revealed that he is aware that another politician is rumoured to be running for city mayor. However, he said they will “cross the bridge once” the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) starts on the first week of October. RGL
