Vice President Sara Duterte told journalists here on Tuesday that her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, had advised her to ‘come home’ and leave national politics to her brother, Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte, the city’s incumbent mayor.
Duterte made this revelation at a press conference during which she denied accusations that she received money stuffed in suitcases from dismissed policeman Rodulfo Gracioso Jr.
The Vice President was asked about suggestions that her younger brother take the cudgels for her amid threats to her viability as a presidential contender. Duterte may lose her eligibility to hold public office if the Senate impeachment court convicts her.
Duterte said she has not discussed the matter with her brother, who currently leads the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP), the political party that carried his father’s presidential bid in 2016.
During the press conference, Duterte said she is not inclined to follow her mother’s plea, and that she is not coming home yet because she still has work as Vice President.