MANILA, Philippines — While presidential daughter Davao Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio recently announced that she would run in 2019 as representative of the city’s first congressional district, her brother, Davao Vice Mayor Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, said he would no longer join politics.
The state-run Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported on Wednesday that Paolo would already retire from public service but their relatives from the Carpio-Duterte family would still run in the next local polls to lead Davao.
“When Mayor Sara announced that she will file for a congressional seat in the first District, everybody’s asking me where I am going. It will still be a Carpio-Duterte tandem in the mayor and vice mayor, we are still talking to the other Dutertes, but definitely it will not be me,” PNA quoted Paolo as saying.
Paolo didn’t name their relatives who would seek Davao’s mayoral and vice mayoral posts but said Sara’s husband, Manases Carpio, a lawyer, would be very qualified to lead the city. He added talks were ongoing with his younger brother, Sebastian “Baste” Duterte.
Asked of his plans outside politics,the PNA quoted Paolo as saying, “If you will ask me where I would go, I will be going back to farming. I am planning to retire.”
PNA said that according to the vice mayor, he had enough of politics already and wanted to focus on his family and his small farm at the back of his house.
He was also quoted as saying that his children had been affected by the issues thrown against him by his political enemies like Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
Earlier, Paolo said his daughter cried in front of him and his wife after hearing the Trillanes’ accusations linking the vice mayor to narcotics trade and smuggling activities, which the presidential son vehemently denied.
