Davao City Vice Mayor and presidential son Paolo Duterte said in a statement yesterday that he will be retiring from politics in 2019.
But even with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte opting to seek a seat in the House of Representatives instead of re-election, it won’t be the end of the Duterte dynasty in Davao City Hall.
Paolo hinted that it’s likely that Sara’s husband Manases would be the family’s choice to fill her seat.
READ: Duterte daughter eyes congressional seat in 2019
For the position of vice mayor, Paolo said it will likely be filled by another Duterte. “…we are still talking to the other Duterte [family members] but definitely it will not be me,” he said, initially hesitating to specify which Duterte in particular he was talking about.
But according to a report by Inquirer yesterday, after being pressed by the media, Paolo said he was actually referring to just one Duterte: his younger brother Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.
Baste has never held public office, but was seen regularly at his father’s campaign events around the country during the 2016 elections.
Paolo has been vice mayor of Davao City since 2013. His statement that he wants to retire comes a month after the Senate probed him and his brother in law Manases Carpio over their alleged links to drug smuggling.
Sara won as Davao City mayor in the 2016 election, the same year her father was elected president.
She held the same position from 2010 -2013 and was vice mayor from 2007 – 2010.
Before becoming president last year, Duterte served as mayor, vice mayor, and a congressman in Davao City for two decades. His late father Vicente Duterte was also governor of Davao for 20 years.
In 2015, Duterte opposed the proposed Anti-Dynasty Bill and called it undemocratic. “I allowed my daughter [to run] because I wanted to continue the reforms,” he told Philippine Star. “How can you prevent a person from running a public if that is his happiness, freedom of expression, and he wanted to be happy?”
