Vice President Sara Duterte with Dr. Chris Sorongon, Office of the Vice President Negros-Panay satellite head, on Monday, Nov. 11.*
Vice President Sara Duterte said on Monday, Nov. 11, that she is not endorsing any local or national candidates for the 2025 elections.
Duterte, who was in Bacolod, was responding to a question on whether she would support former Bacolod mayor Evelio Leonardia who is running against Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez for congressman of Bacolod.
“As of this moment it is my personal decision not to endorse any local or national candidates because my experience in the last election in 2022 was not good,” she said.
“Given that some people follow what I say, I have hesitation now to say again whom they should vote for,” she said.
Voters should vote for candidates based on what they have done and not just on the endorsement of a popular personality, she said.
Meanwhile, she said the Office of the Vice President satellite offices will continue to operate until Dec. 31. She cannot say if the satellite offices can continue next year as she does not know how much Congress will grant her office in 2025, Duterte said.
She said the OVP Negros-Panay office this year has provided medical assistance to 45,200 individuals and burial assistance for 3,840.
The free rides offered by the OVP and their contractual workers could also be affected by budget cuts by Congress, Duterte said*.