Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte drops out of senate race
- Duterte’s spokesman said he decided to withdraw from the May elections to ‘better focus’ on the government’s pandemic response
- Duterte’s six-year term will end in June and he is banned by the constitution from seeking another term as president
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Duterte, 76, is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election, and his decision to run for the senate had been seen as a way of staying in politics while facing an international probe into his deadly drug war.
“The President has filed his withdrawal from the Senatorial elections,” James Jimenez, spokesman for the Commission on Elections office, said on Twitter.
Duterte decided to withdraw from the May elections to “better focus” on the government’s pandemic response and ensure “orderly and peaceful elections”, his spokesman Karlo Nograles said.
Is Philippine senator’s sudden election exit part of ‘wily’ Duterte’s plan?
“After over four decades in public service, the President plans to retire from government to spend more time with his family when his term ends in June 2022,” Nograles added, without specifying if Duterte was quitting politics altogether.
The elections will see thousands of candidates contest more than 18,000 posts from president to town councillor.
Duterte said previously he would run for the country’s second-highest office, before changing his mind and announcing plans to retire from politics – which was met with deep scepticism among analysts.
His latest withdrawal does not necessarily mean he is planning to quit politics. Under election rules, he could potentially substitute another candidate sharing his surname if they were disqualified or died.
Duterte’s daughter Sara is running for vice-president while his son Sebastian is contesting the mayoral race in the family’s southern stronghold of Davao City.
“It’s very dizzying,” said Antonio Contreras, a political-science professor at De La Salle University in Manila.
“They’ve probably already made sure that somebody is going to act on their behalf to protect their interests,” he said.
Duterte’s exit from the race came hours after his close aide and chosen successor Senator Christopher Go formally withdrew his candidacy for president.
Seven Philippine presidential hopefuls, from ‘Bongbong’ Marcos to Leni Robredo
The current leader in the presidential race is the son and namesake of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, according to a recent survey by respected polling outfit Social Weather Stations.
Marcos Jnr was followed by incumbent vice-president and Duterte critic Leni Robredo, celebrity mayor Francisco Domagoso and boxing great Manny Pacquiao.
Sara Duterte, who had been widely expected to run for the top job, has formed an alliance with Marcos Jnr.
Duterte has been an ally of the controversial Marcos family, which had gone into exile in the US after the patriarch’s humiliating downfall in 1986.
But recently Duterte has been publicly critical of Marcos Jnr, describing him as a “weak leader … saddled with baggage”.
