Former Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairperson Karlo Nograles admitted that his mayoralty bid in Davao City for the upcoming 2025 polls didn’t have the blessing of former President Rodrigo Duterte, his former boss who abruptly turned out to be his greatest rival in the race.

In an interview on Wednesday, Nograles, a three-term congressman who served as Cabinet secretary during the Duterte administration, said he had only a few encounters with the erstwhile president after his term ended in June 2022 which made him unable to discuss his prospects for the Davao City’s top post then.

However, the former CSC chair is positive that Duterte will respect his decision.

To recall, Nograles resigned as CSC chief on Monday but remained mum about his political ambition until the last day of the filing of candidacies for the next year’s election on Tuesday when he filed his mayoral candidacy.

He tendered his resignation hours after Duterte formalized his intention to retake his old post as Davao City mayor, a position he held for decades.

Nograles’ decision to run for mayor revived the long and bitter Duterte-Nograles rival dating back to 1992, when Nograles’ father, the late Speaker Prospero Nograles, attempted to unseat Duterte in that election.

The first loss of the senior Nograles was later followed by a series of poll defeats against the Dutertes.

It was only in 2015 that their decade-old feud ended after the Nograles clan threw their support to a fellow Davaoeño Duterte in the 2016 presidential polls, in which the latter won and as a result of the reconciliation, Duterte even appointed younger Nograles to various posts during his tenure.

Since then, the younger Nograles and Duterte have maintained friendly ties not until the former’s tough move to end the Dutertes dynasty.