DAVAO Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has yielded to the appeal of friends and supporters to keep an open mind about the presidency and stop issuing statements that he is not interested in running for the 2016 presidential elections. In his weekly program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” at ABS-CBN Davao, Duterte said he understood the sentiments of his friends and supporters who have been urging him to run for President in the face of the serious problems confronting the country.
“I will consider the suggestion of my friends and supporters,” Duterte said adding that “the presidency is a destiny which only God could bestow on a person.”
Supporters of the tough-talking Davao mayor renewed their appeal to Duterte to stop declaring that he will not run in the face of his steady climb in the national rankings for presidential wannabees in 2016.
The survey of Pulse Asia showed Duterte at third place, behind Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay, with 15 percent, an increase of three-percentage points from the March survey of the same polling group. Even in the controversial SWS survey, which used the “pick three” system in ranking presidential aspirants for 2016, Duterte jumped from 15 percent to 20 percent.
Duterte’s supporters believe that the ratings could have been higher had he not categorically stated that he was not interested in the presidency.
“The reluctance of people to openly express support for Mayor Duterte is due to the fact that he has repeatedly declared he is not running. In fact, the question we always hear is, ‘Is he really running?,’” said former transportation secretary Pantaleon Alvarez, one of Duterte’s ardent supporters
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