Substitution drama: Inday Sara runs for VP, Go runs for president, Duterte expected to enter VP race
Yesterday, Nov. 13 was an eventful day in the country’s political scene.
Approaching the last day of withdrawals and substitutions of candidacies for the 2022 national elections, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio filed her certificate of candidacy for vice president. Later in the day, President Rodrigo Duterte made the rounds online after his communications secretary’s announcement in line with his vice presidential bid. Duterte's long-time aide Bong Go then filed his COC for the highest position of the land.
Duterte-Carpio initially expressed a firm intent to get reelected as mayor with the belief that there’s still so much to be done in the city. “Masakit din para sa aking damdamin na sana’y magpaubaya sa mga kaibigan na hindi ko maibigay ang gusto ninyo. Gusto ko po sana tapusin muna ang huli kong termino sa Mayor bago ako manungkulan sa ibang position,” she previously said.
A week before COMELEC’s deadline, however, she started brewing speculations on her electoral bid with her resignation from her regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago. On Nov. 13, she filed her COC for VP as a substitute for Lyle Uy of Lakas-CMD through her lawyer Reynold Munsayac.
Hours later, Dela Rosa withdrew from the 2022 presidential race. The former police chief, who was asked by PDP-Laban to run for president two hours before the deadline for the filing of COCs on Oct. 8, has since been open about giving way to another candidate. Prior to filing his candidacy withdrawal, Dela Rosa wrote on Facebook: “Mahal kong mga supporters, isang malaking karangalan ang 1 month and 5 days na pagsama ninyo sa aking panaginip na maging Pangulo ng ating bansa. Ngayon po ay sabayan naman ninyo ako sa aking pagising sa katotohanan.”
Go, meanwhile, dropped his candidacy for vice president and decided to run for president instead under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan. While only three companions are allowed in the venue, he was accompanied by President Rodrigo Duterte and an entourage of supporters including Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar, Victor Neri, and Philip Salvador, among others.
Senator Bong Go greeted his supporters waiting outside the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila on Saturday.
— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) November 13, 2021
Go was accompanied by President Duterte after he filed his certificate of candidacy for president in the 2022 national elections. #BilangPilipino2022 pic.twitter.com/xgPfaUAruv
Election aspirants are given until Nov. 15 to submit changes to candidacies, and President Duterte is expected to file his COC for vice president—a move that many Filipinos didn’t see coming as he announced his retirement from politics a month ago.
“On Monday, babalik si Presidente dito sa COMELEC para mag-file for vice president. Abangan natin ang sunod na kabanata. We all know that this is a developing story. Abangan nalang natin and let’s wait for them to finish,” Andanar told the press.
In 2016, Duterte joined the presidential race as a substitute candidate for Martin Diño under PDP-Laban and won the position. If he pushes through with his fight for the vice presidency, he will go against his own daughter Duterte-Carpio, Kiko Pangilinan, Willie Ong, and Tito Sotto, among others in the May 2022 polls.
