Sara supporters hope Duterte will reconsider VP run

The head of a group supporting Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte on Thursday expressed the belief that there is still time for President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his plan to run for vice president in the coming elections and give way instead for his daughter to run for president.

Hugpong Para kay Sara (HPS) chairman Anthony del Rosario said the remaining two weeks before October "gives us sufficient time to persuade the President to give way to Mayor Sara Duterte, since there is an agreement between [the] father and daughter that only one Duterte can run for a national post."

“President Duterte started good programs, but that is not to say there is nothing to be improved,” del Rosario said. 

“No government is perfect, and even the President himself said he wished he could finish a number of projects that he started during his term. Our movement has high hopes that we can convince PRRD not to run as VP so that the best person for the job of continuing these projects, and even adding her own, can consider running," he added.

He said they are not planning to talk to the President regarding the matter: "Our gameplan right now is simply to gather support, and we’ll see what happens from there.”

The group has been urging Sara to run for president in the national polls. The Davao City mayor, however, said she is not inclined to run for a national post in the coming elections as her father accepted the nomination of the ruling PDP-Laban party to run for vice president in 2022.

Sara earlier said they have agreed that only one from the Duterte family should run in the national polls.

On Wednesday, the president's daughter expressed her support for her father's plan to run for vice president.

Meanwhile, del Rosario claimed that the support for Sara's candidacy continues to mount as shown by requests from all over the country for oath-taking ceremonies to be part of the HPS.

“This morning, I just got a call from Governor Aurelio Umali of Nueva Ecija and many of his barangay officials requesting that they sign up for the HPS,” del Rosario said.

“We now have more than 10,000 members, and [are] still growing. With the daily increase of adherents to our cause, we believe we can respectfully convince the President," he added.

HPS describes itself as a group composed of people from all walks of life who want Sara to run for president in Eleksyon 2022. It is led by its chairman emeritus, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. — BM, GMA News