Vice President Sara Duterte has reportedly rejected the offer of her father, former President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, to assume the presidency of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP).

A party source told Daily Tribune the offer was discussed during a recent two-day planning session for PDP’s new headquarters in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

Also discussed was the resignation of Sen. Robin Padilla as party president to clear the way for VP Duterte’s appointment.

The VP’s brother, Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, was named PDP’s acting president after Padilla left to focus on his duties as a senator in the 20th Congress.

“The idea was that installing VP Sara would revitalize the party and encourage former members who defected to return,” the source said.

But Sara Duterte, speaking at a press conference Monday, said she had no plans to join PDP, preferring not to be affiliated with any political party.

Her father is currently detained at the International Criminal Court in The Hague where he is facing a charge of crimes against humanity in connection with the bloody drug war during his presidency.

Even as mayor of Davao City, Sara Duterte had distanced herself from PDP, using instead her local party when she filed her certificate of candidacy.

In the recent midterm elections, she endorsed candidates, including Senators Imee Marcos and Camille Villar, without consulting PDP which is now an opposition party.

With its chairman, former president Duterte, in ICC custody and Padilla out, PDP appears to be facing a leadership vacuum. But party officials downplayed any concerns.

“The party remains intact. We continue to support VP Sara even though she’s not a member,” said Manny Lumanao, PDP’s Caraga regional president. He added that Davao City Mayor Duterte, the party’s executive vice president, is expected to assume the presidency.

Lumanao noted that the party no longer uses the full name PDP–Laban (Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan), a merger of two parties that was founded by the late Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. and later carried by then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in his 2016 presidential bid.

Veteran PDP–Laban members have appealed to both party factions to leave VP Duterte out of the internal feud, emphasizing that she was never formally part of the organization.

“It’s unfair to drag her into the party’s internal issues,” one member said.

Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, son of the party’s founder, recently urged Senate President Chiz Escudero to expedite the impeachment trial of the Vice President.

He used the PDP–Laban letterhead in his request, underscoring the party’s continued political entanglements.

The elder Pimentel founded PDP–Laban in 1981 when he was mayor of Cagayan de Oro City, thereafter rising to be Senate president and presiding over the impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada before retiring and handing over the party leadership to his son.

Despite ongoing disputes, PDP claims more than 50,000 card-carrying members and remains influential in the House of Representatives through its former “super majority” bloc led by ex-Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.