Duterte to run for senator in May 2022 polls, reveals ally

MANILA: President Duterte again changed his mind and decided instead to run for senator in the coming May 2022 elections to avoid a “political collision” with his daughter Sara in the vice presidential race, a close ally revealed on Monday.

Senator Christopher Go said that Duterte would file his certificate of candidacy for senator through a representative before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, the deadline for the withdrawal or substitution of candidates running for national or local positions in the coming 2022 elections.

Go had filed his candidacy as the standard bearer of one of the factions of the ruling PDP-Laban political party and replaced another freshman senator Ronald dela Rosa, both close allies of Duterte.

Earlier, James Jimenez, the Comelec spokesman, said there would be no extension of the deadline for the filing of such certificates which ended at 5 pm on Monday.

Duterte threatened to run for vice president against at least six rivals, including his daughter Sara who filed her candidacy before the Comelec also through a representative for the No. 2 elective position of the land for the once dominant political party Lakas-cmd (Christian Muslim Democrats).

Immediately ater filing her candidacy, the Federal Party of the Philippines announced they were “adopting” Sara as the running mate of their standard bearer former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, the only son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator.

Duterte had questioned Sara’s move to run for vice president, saying it was a decision made by the Marcos camp. He admited he was baffled by Sara’s decision as he pointed out that his daughter was leading in surveys for possible candidates for president.

“I’m sure Sara’s candidacy is a decision of the camp of Bongbong. That’s why I’m wondering, I said, she was No. 1 in survey. So, why did she agree to run for vice president. She was the one with a high rating,” Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and English during an interview with a pro-duterte blogger Banat By.