Inday Sara endorses Mocha Uson, Pia Cayetano
Duterte-Carpio
Saying she had no intention of running for the Senate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio told Filipinos in Hong Kong to vote instead for blogger Mocha Uson and former Sen. Pia Cayetano in 2019.
The daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte attended a rally in Central on February 25 and thanked Duterte supporters in the city for their support in putting his father in Malacanang.
She said she was not running for the Senate because she wanted to take care of her three young children in Davao and they would be affected if she worked in Manila.
“The work of (a member of Congress) from the province is to go to Manila for three or four days—from Monday to Thursday—and then go home to your district from Friday to Sunday,” Duterte-Carpio said in her speech.
“I said I cannot do that because I can’t bear to leave my children behind,” said Duterte-Carpio. “That’s the reason why I am not running for senator.”
But members of the crowd that gathered to hear Duterte-Carpio at the side of the General Post Office in Central howled and started shouting: “President! President! President!”
“But I will endorse in my stead, there is Asec. Mocha Uson. There is Sen. Pia Cayteano. Let us put them in the Senate,” Duterte-Carpio said.
The other public figures who joined Duterte-Carpio at the rally of Tapang at Malasakit—the alliance of Duterte volunteer organizations—included her brother Baste, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, his sister Pia, Uson, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, actor Robin Padila, and Public Works Undersecretary Karen Jimeno.
Before going to Hong Kong, Duterte-Carpio and her group also visited Macau and talked to overseas Filipino workers there.
Duterte-Carpio thanked the supporters of her father who spent their own money to campaign for him in the 2016 presidential elections.
“Many among us spent our own money to have T-shirts, stickers, and tarpaulins made. Many of us spent our load just to tell our family and relatives back home to ‘Vote for Digong,” Duterte-Carpio said.
“You spent your money, time, and sweat for (President Duterte) and we are thankful to you individually,” she said.
“Our family is eternally indebted for the opportunity that you gave our father to serve as President of the Philippines. Thank you very, very much, everyone,” she added.
She said the Tapang at Malasakit alliance was established to group various organizations that volunteered to campaign for President Duterte in 2016.
“The elections ended and we succeeded in having him win. (But) all the volunteers ran out of things to do (after that). What happened was some began fighting each other because they did not know what to do after the President won,” Duterte-Carpio said.
“The volunteerism of Filipino should not stop. We should gather all the groups,” she added.
Duterte-Carpio said Tapang at Malasakit was already active in helping victims of recent typhoons in Bicol, Biliran, and Surigao del Sur.
“So, if there’s a problem or a calamity, Tapang at Malasakit is there to help. We don’t wait to be called. We don’t wait for money. In places in the Philippines that have problems, Tapang at Malasakit is there,” she added.