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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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 4:55pm, 14 Dec 2021Updated: 7:17pm, 14 Dec 2021

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday withdrew his candidacy for the 2022 senate race, the government elections monitor said, a month after he made a last-minute entry into the contest.

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.

“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.