Sara Duterte withdraws re-election bid, may seek presidency

DAVAO CITY Mayor Sara Duterte withdrew from her re-election bid on Tuesday and was replaced by her brother, Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte, who also recalled his re-election bid to replace her sister.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte is greeted by supporters on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at the office of the Commission on Elections where she withdrew her re-election bid.

Sebastian was substituted by lawyer Melchor Quitain, son and namesake of the chief presidential legal counsel, who is a native of Davao City.

“Ngayong hapon wini-withdraw ko ang aking kandidatura sa pagka-Mayor ng Davao City. Si VM Baste ang papalit sa akin. Ito lamang po muna. Maraming salamat po,”  Sara wrote on her Facebook page.

Sara’s withdrawal fuelled speculations that she will run for the presidency, although she has not officially made any announcement following her decision to withdraw.

Duterte’s daughter previously said that she will not run for the presidency after her father accepted the nomination of his PDP-Laban party to run for vice president only to withdraw later. His political party then pushed Duterte to run for senator.

Duterte, who is facing an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over allegations of extrajudicial killings on the government’s bloody war on drugs, previously told his daughter to seek the presidency with his long-time aide-turned-senator Bong Go as her running mate, but Sara rejected this although independent surveys showed her topping the polls.

The ageing Duterte originally wanted Go to run for president with him as vice president, but this move was met with public criticism and aggravated by a dip in the president’s popularity.

If Sara would not run for president, the ruling PDP-Laban has little chance to grab the top post from either Manila Mayor Isko Moreno or Vice President Leni Robredo, two of the strongest contenders for the presidency.

The PDP-Laban may push Go to seek the presidency with Duterte as vice president.

Go said he is determined to run for vice president with Senator Ronald dela Rosa as president. Dela Rosa, who is also under investigation by the ICC, was the architect of the so-called “Oplan: Tokhang,” the government’s anti-drug campaign, when he was the head of the Philippine National Police. (Mindanao Examiner)