Two days after saying he might run for vice president, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte opted to seek a senatorial seat in the May 9, 2022 national and local elections.
This after lawyer Melchor Aranas filed Duterte’s certificate of candidacy (COC) on Monday, November 15, the last day of the filing of statements of withdrawal and substitution at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in Intramuros, Manila.
Duterte, who served as mayor of Davao City for two decades before his popular election as president in 2016, is running under the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS) party.
He substituted Mona Lisa Visorde, who filed her statement of withdrawal also on Monday.
Meanwhile, COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez said the poll body received a total of 19 statements of withdrawal and withdrawal with substitution during the filing period.
Three statements of withdrawal were submitted while four statements of withdrawal with substitution were filed for the position of president.
For the position of vice president, four statements of withdrawal and withdrawal with substitution were received by the COMELEC Law Department.
The COMELEC also received four statements of withdrawal and five statements of withdrawal with substitution for senator.
Jimenez said the list of all substitutions remains tentative pending issues that are still to be resolved.
“I have a list of all substitutions that have been made. This is a tentative list since some still have issues like their political party. We have yet to finalize their political affiliation. Those are their affiliations as filed. They still need to undergo a process,” he added.PNA
