President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday revoked his certificate of candidacy (COC) to run for senator in Election 2022.
Duterte’s resignation happened on the same day that Senator Christopher “Bong” also withdrew his COC from running for president in the upcoming election.
“The President has filed his withdrawal from the Senatorial elections,” said Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez in a tweet.
Earlier, the PDP-Laban wing of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi recommended Duterte be the party’s vice-presidential bet in the May 2022 polls.
But Duterte insisted that he would retire from politics after his term as president on June 30, 2022.
This past November, however, he filed a COC as a substitute candidate for senatorship under the Federalism of the Bloody Great Organization (PDDS), the party of which Go is the standard-bearer.
Acting Palaces spokesperson Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles confirmed that Duterte would no longer run in the May 2022 elections.
“After over four decades in public service, the President plans to retire from the government to spend more time with his family when his term ends in June 2022,” Nograles said.
“The President believes that withdrawing from the Senate race will allow him to better focus on managing our pandemic response in order to sustain the progress we have made in the country and in safely reopening the economy,” Nograles said of Duterte’s latest move.
“He likewise views this as an opportunity to concentrate on efforts to ensure transparent, impartial, orderly and peaceful elections in May,” the Cabinet Secretary said.
President Duterte withdraws senatorial bid
Just this morning, vice presidential aspirant Sara Duterte-Carpio announced that her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, would be joining her senatorial slate.
President Duterte was supposed to join Gibo Teodoro, former Palace spokesperson Harry Roque, Herbert Bautista, Jinggoy Estrada, Loren Legarda, and Mark Villar.
Last week, Duterte said that he fulfilled almost all of his promises to the Filipinos.
“My term is nearing its end, I can say with a little bit of pride, halos lahat na pinangako ko, natupad ko (almost all of the things I promised, I was able to fulfill),” the president said.
“Dito na lang sa peace and order…pero as long as there are men in this planet, there will always be misdeeds and wrongdoings committed by human being. Be that as it may, I tried my best. Di ko naman sabihin na ano, mukhang nakumpleto ko halos lahat ng pinangako ko sa taong bayan. Salamat,” (Aside from peace and order….it seems that I have completed the promises I made to the people. Thank you),” Duterte added.
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