THE DECISION to field congressman-elect Omar Duterte and challenge the influential Garcia clan in the 2nd District was a result of the communication breakdown.
Vice President Sara Duterte explained that Omar Duterte, the son of her brother Congressman Paolo Duterte, was chosen to run as representative in the 2nd district of Davao City after former Congressman Vincent Garcia became unresponsive to her messages.
“Omar Duterte became a candidate because Congressman Vincent Garcia refused to communicate with us. We repeatedly told him that he was the only one we wanted to run for congressman at that time, but he refused to talk to me, and he still refuses to talk to me now. He doesn’t respond to our messages. That’s why Omar became a candidate,” Duterte stated.
She clarified that in January 2024, Omar and his brother Rigo were not yet on the list of potential candidates.
Regarding the breakdown in communication with Garcia, Duterte said, “The filing of candidacy wasn’t over yet. We had been preparing for the May 12 elections since January 2024. What we didn’t anticipate in 2024 was the kidnapping of President Duterte. Although it was on our agenda in every meeting, we refused to discuss it. Before the filing deadline, I was tasked to talk to Congressman Vincent Garcia and tell him that he still had a term as congressman, and he was the only one we wanted to run because people from outside Davao City were interfering in our city.”
“Nakikialam ang governor ng Isabela province, nakikialam ang mayor ng Sta. Cruz [Davao del Sur] na hindi naman sila taga Davao city, ” the Vice President said.
“The message we wanted to convey to Congressman Vincent Garcia at that time was that we wanted him to be the sole candidate. When he stopped communicating with us, and we learned who was running in the second district, we fielded Omar as a candidate.”
Duterte expressed a desire to communicate with Garcia. “I want to talk to him. We reached out to him, I think yesterday or the other day, but he still doesn’t respond to our messages. I guess we should give Congressman Vincent Garcia some time. We worked together, and he was very supportive of City Hall when I was mayor and of the Office of the Vice President when he was congressman. I don’t understand why he would allow people from outside Davao City to interfere in Davao City.”
She further added, “Alam naman nating lahat na si Javi Campos is a candidate of Martin Romualdez, so yun yun (We all know that Javi Campos is a candidate of Martin Romualdez, so that’s the situation),” she added.
Augusto Javier Campos III, who used to be a member of Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, filed his candidacy as the 2nd District representative under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP)–the political party of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
