Is President Rodrigo Duterte really retiring or does have something up his sleeve? According to Malacañang, it’s best to wait and see.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque on Monday told doubters of Duterte’s surprise retirement announcement to wait for the deadline of candidacy filing and see for themselves the truth behind the president’s statement.
“Well, kung talagang may nagdududa, e hintayin na lang natin ang Oktubre a-otso para malaman natin kung anong plano ni presidente,” Roque told reporters in a media briefing.
“At kung mayroon pa ring duda, hintayin natin ang November 15 kasi iyon po iyong deadline para sa substitute. Wala na po akong assurance na maibibigay doon sa talagang gustong magduda,” he added.
To recall, Duterte’s 2016 election victory was made possible by a last-minute substitution move by PDP-Laban.
Duterte substituted for Martin Diño as the party’s standard-bearer in the 2016 elections.
Duterte on Oct. 2 backtracked on his plan to pursue the vice presidency and announced his retirement from politics.
His long-time aide, Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, replaced him as PDP-Laban’s vice presidential bet for 2022. John Ezekiel J. Hirro