Legally barred from retaining his post, incumbent president Rodrigo Duterte has announced Tuesday that he will run for the vice president position instead in the upcoming 2022 national election.
In his pre-recorded “Talk to the People” nation address, Duterte confirmed that he will seek for vice president, putting an end to the sensational quest lately thrown at him.
“Gusto talaga ninyo? Oh, sige, tatakbo ako ng bise presidente (Do you reall want me to [run in the election]? Fine, I will run for vice president.),” he stated.
The country’s chief said that his move was prompted by his urge to continue the fight against insurgency, drug abuse, and criminality which are focal concerns of his current administration.
“I will continue this crusade. I’m worried about the drugs, insurgency. Number one is insurgency, then criminality [and] drugs,” Duterte asserted.
“I may not have the power to give the direction or guidance, but I can always express my views in public. For whatever it may be worth in the coming days, nasa Pilipino na ‘yan. Nandiyan lang ako, magsabi lang ako. (The decision will still be up to the Filipino people. I’m just here sharing my thoughts),” he added.
On August 23, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles who is also Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan’s (PDP-Laban) executive vice president has first shared that the president has accepted the endorsement of the political party to give vice presidency run a shot.
Nograles said that sacrificial agreement between Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi’s led PDP-Laban party and Duterte is caused by the latter’s goal to “heed the clamor of the people”.
Aside from Duterte, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the political party has also endorsed Senator Christopher Lawrence Go as their presidential standard bearer to further build strong goals and extend the administration’s mission to achieve an improved quality of life for the Filipino people.
Go, on early Tuesday, has refused the endorsement, saying that presidential bets who are interested unlike him must be first considered.
The senator further stressed that vaccinations should be of utmost priority rather than one’s own political interests.
“Bakuna muna bago pulitika,” Go emphasized.