Philippine president announces retirement, says daughter will run

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday that he would be retiring from politics after his current term and signaled that his daughter would run for president in 2022.

ABS-CBN News cited a video in which reporters asked Duterte if his daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, would be running with his longtime aide Senator Christopher “Bong” Go. 

“So is it clear, Sara-Go?” the journalist asked Duterte, according to Reuters.

“It is Sara-Go,” the president replied.

Some believe Duterte’s move is meant to keep power in the family. His daughter is highly rated in polls of potential presidential contenders.

Duterte flirted with running for vice president, given that he cannot run again for president under the country’s constitution, but public polls showed little support for that course and many many voters believed it was a power grab, Reuters noted. 

Some believe Duterte also wants a close ally in office to protect him from potential prosecution related to his war on drugs, which has left some 5,000 dead. 

Duterte-Carpio filed paperwork to run for reelection as mayor of Davao City the same day her father made his remarks, though she can still make changes to those filings, according to ABS-CBN News. 

A spokesperson for the president’s daughter told Reuters, when asked for confirmation of her plans, “the extent of my knowledge is also what was reported in local news. We have no comment on the same.”

Asked in the video when Duterte anticipated his daughter officially filing paperwork for her candidacy, he replied, “I really do not know. I do not have any idea at all,” according to Reuters.

He also claimed that he did not speak about politics with Duterte-Carpio, saying “I would say that it is for the better.”