Calls for Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte to run for president in the 2022 elections have been gathering steam in Negros Occidental, with a dozen city and municipal mayors wanting her to join the race for the country’s top post.
Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo revealed this shared sentiments of the 12 local chief executives when he met with them recently.
They said “we want Sara to run because we want continuity,” Panelo quoted the mayors as saying.
Panelo said he was joined by former Negros Occidental Registry of Deeds, Atty. Romulo Gonzaga, who is the provincial chairman of the “Run Sara Run” movement, as well as “Sara All” convenor, Himamaylan City Mayor Raymund Tongson, Victorias City Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca, Toboso Mayor Richard Jaojoco, San Enrique Mayor Jilson Tubillara, Pontevedra Mayor Jose Maria Alonso, and Hinobaan Mayor Ernesto Estrao.
Silay City Mayor Mark Golez, Hinigaran Mayor Nadie Arceo, and La Castellana Mayor Rhumyla Nicor-Mangilimutan have also earlier aired their support and called on the Davao City mayor to run for president.
Panelo said he was the first one who pushed the Presidential Daughter to run for president as early as three and a half years ago.
“I started the Sara Duterte for President movement,” he said.
He added that with Sara’s consistent high survey ratings, he is confident of her victory in next year’s polls.
Panelo said that even in Capiz and Iloilo, the mayors he met also want the lady mayor from Mindanao to run for president to ensure the continuity of the initiatives started under the administration of her father. – GB
