Harry Roque said that he held no hard feelings for Sara Duterte for choosing not to run for president.
HARRY ROQUE — The Presidential spokesperson said on Monday that he held no hard feelings toward Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte for choosing not to run for president in the 2022 elections.
Roque bared in a Presidential press briefing Monday that he knew in advance that Mayor Sara would vie for a third term as Davao City mayor in next year’s elections and not the presidency.
“Sinabi talaga sa akin ni Mayor Sara noong ako’y nakipag-usap sa kanya na mayor ang kanyang takbo. That was when my heart was broken dahil I wanted her to run for president,” Roque said.
The Palace spokesman was widely known to have aspirations of becoming a senator. However, Roque earlier said that he would only run for senator if Mayor Sara joined the presidential race.
The filing for certificates of candidacy (COC) of the 2022 election aspirants ended last October 8. On the same day, the Palace spokesman confirmed that he would no longer run for senator in the upcoming polls.
READ ALSO: Harry Roque To Continue Serving As Presidential Spox After Backing Out Of Senate Bid
For him, he already knew his decision but he’s still praying and hoping that it would change. Roque said that it’s no reason for him to get mad.
“Hindi sumama ang loob ko. Bakit po? Pero syempre umaasa tayo na baka magbago ang isip, pero hindi na nagbago. Wala pong samaan ng loob. Talagang desisyon naman po yan ng kandidato,” the Palace spokesman said, referring to Mayor Sara.
Mayor Sara can still become a presidential bet if she decided to substitute a candidate who filed his or her certificate of candidacy. But this scenario was already shot down by the presidential daughter.
According to Roque, the only thing left to do was to determine what to do with Mayor Sara’s supporters who, like him, hoped that she would launch a presidential campaign.
It was last October 9 when Mayor Sara was reported to have contracted COVID-19. The Davao City Information Office (CIO) said that Mayor Sara was experiencing mild symptoms and was currently in isolation.
“Ang mensahe po natin kay Mayor Sara at ang kanyang pamilya, please keep safe and get well soon,” Roque said.
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