Duterte regrets decision to run for president

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday expressed regret over his decision to seek the presidency in the 2016 election which he won by a landslide.

Duterte issued the remark as he vented his frustration with government corruption anew.

“I lost my enthusiasm to work. Actually, I deeply regretted it. I regretted my decision to run for president,” he said in a speech before newly elected officials of Cagayan de Oro City.

“I never lost an election. So since 1988, I was rising until I became President of this Republic. But if you ask me if I’m happy now, I won’t lie. Why would I? I do not have any obligation to you to lie, to tell a lie. I’m sick and tired of this.”

Duterte again recalled that he had offered to resign from the presidency if key military and police officers agreed he should leave office.

He also reiterated his opposition to his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte who could possibly seek the presidency in 2022.

“That is why when people speculated Inday to run for president, I told her, ‘Don’t do it, ‘Day. You will not be able to control it. They will disrespect you, those sons of b******,” he said.

Sara has been floated as a possible successor to her father but she remained coy about her political plans. In February, the mayor said running for president is a decision that requires a lot of thought and that she might come up with one by January 2021. — BAP, GMA News