Duterte announces decision as Senator Go files his candidacy for VP with Comelec
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Saturday, Oct. 2, that he will not run for vice president in 2022 anymore and will retire from politics, saying he was heeding the sentiment of Filipinos.
In a brief speech as Senator Bong Go filed his certificate of candidacy with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday, Duterte said he was “was not qualified” to run for vice-president as this would be a “violation of the constitution.”
He said he does not want to circumvent the law and the constitution which bars a president from seeking reelection.
“The overwhelming… sentiment of the Filipinos is that I am not qualified and it would be a violation of the constitution to circumvent the law, the spirit of the constitution” to run for the vice presidency, Duterte said.
“Today I announce my retirement from politics.”
He made his announcement as Go filed his certificate of candidacy to run for vice-president in next year’s elections under the ruling PDP-Laban party.
Duterte then expressed support for Go’s candidacy, raising the hand of his former long-time aide, after Go filed his COC.
Go was previous nominated as the PDP Laban standard bearer to run for the presidency in 2022, but he had consistently said he did not want to run for the highest position in the land.
With President Duterte saying he would not run anymore, this opens the possibility of his daughter, Davao City mayor Sara Duterte for a possible bid for the presidency.
Both President Duterte and his daughter Sara had said before that “only one Duterte” can run for top posts in the 2022 elections.
Duterte, who polls show remains almost as popular as when he was swept to victory in 2016 on a promise to rid the country of drugs, is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term.
The authoritarian firebrand declared in August he would contest the vice presidency in the next election.
Duterte made the surprise announcement at the venue where he was expected to register his candidacy. He did not specify when he would leave politics.
The tough-talking leader has not yet announced his preferred successor, but many expect it will be his daughter, Sara, who has been the front runner in recent polls.
Sara Duterte, the mayor of the southern city of Davao — a position held by her father before he became president — has said she would not run if President Duterte will run for vice-president in 2022.
(with a report from Agence France Presse)
