DAVAO CITY – Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio appeared on a 1:43-minute video on Sunday to say why she ran for a vice-presidential seat despite pronouncements she was not keen on running for a higher position.

Duterte-Carpio said “after the deadline the offer to run as vice president became an opportunity to meet you (supporters) halfway”.

She said it was a chance “to allow me to call to serve our country and make me a stronger person and public servant in the years ahead. I am here to answer your call.”

In Filipino, she said she would not let her supporters “cry again” on November 15 after they did on October 8 when she announced she was rejecting all calls to run for higher office.

She did not explain why she opted for the vice-presidency when she led the presidential surveys ahead of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, whose party has officially adopted her

as a guest vice presidential candidate.

Her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, said she did not understand why Sara settled for the vice presidency.

Duterte said her daughter’s decision was hers and that of Marcos.

She had a 20 percent rating behind Marcos' 15 percent in the September Pulse Asia survey.

On her father’s Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) , she said its

problems were their own.

“I appeal to all supporters to stay calm. So, let us all be circumspect and stay the call, focus on forging relationships, to unite for the good of our country,” she added. DMS