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Rabat – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has announced that he will retire from politics and that he will not seek a nomination for the vice presidency in the 2022 elections.
Duterte attributed the decision to “overwhelming sentiments” from the people that he “is not qualified,” and that it would be “a violation of the constitution” for him to seek the vice presidency.
The country’s constitution limits presidents to a single term of six years, and rivals of Duterte were already planning to call into question the legality of his planned vice presidency run.
The controversial president’s retirement gives more weight to rumors that he was paving the way for his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, to take his place as president.
Last year, Duterte-Carpio stated she would not run for higher office while her father is also running. With President Duterte now out of the picture for the coming elections, many expect Sara to be on the ticket to replace her father.
Duterte announced his surprising decision today while accompanying his aide, Senator Bong Go, who will be running for President instead.
But observers have not ruled out the possibility that the President could change his mind and attempt to substitute Go..
Duterte had pulled a somewhat similar move back in the 2016 election, when he denied that he’d be running for public office, only for his application to be filed later by a stand-in candidate.
Duterte’s presidency has been mired in controversy in the Philippines and on the international stage.
Having run on a platform of fighting crime, Duterte repeatedly called for drug suspects to be killed, resulting in what several national and international leaders have called a “reign of terror.”
Government data published earlier this year said that more than 6,000 suspected drug dealers had been killed by police in these operations, though international sources report higher numbers.
