PRESIDENT Dutuerte on Tuesday officially pulled out from the 2022 senatorial race, hours after his most trusted associate, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, formally withdrew his certificate of candidacy for president.
Duterte headed to the Commission on Elections main office in Intramuros, Manila to personally withdraw his COC, which he filed last month through substitution.
This was confirmed by Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, who posted a picture of Duterte withdrawing his COC.
“The President has filed his withdrawal from the Senatorial elections,” Jimenez said.
The President was supposed to run for senator under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS). He replaced PDDS’s initial senatorial bet, Mona Liza Visorde.
Duterte’s withdrawal comes on the eve of the expected release date of the final list of candidates by the Comelec.
Jimenez, however, said they will be unable to release the said list on December 15, 2021 as they originally intended, due to the “number of unresolved nuisance cases” against some aspiring candidates in the 2022 polls.
“We expect that the process of finalizing the list of candidates will take at least two more weeks,” Jimenez said.
Read full article on BusinessMirror