Key Sentence:
- Sarah Duterte, the eldest daughter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, will run in next year’s election as Vice President.
- This has ended months of speculation over whether he wants to run in the election.
He was expected to run as a successor to his father, who could not run for president again. Ms. Duterte, mayor of Davao City, has led public opinion polls as the leading presidential candidate throughout the year. He has joined the new political party (Lakas-CMD) led by former President Gloria Arroyo, replacing another candidate who resigned.
Shortly after he ran for office, he was nominated by Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was running for president.
Other presidential candidates include famous former boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and the Mayor of Manila.
Duterte, a controversial “powerful” figure, came to power in 2016 and vowed to reduce crime and solve the country’s drug crisis. However, critics say that Duterte encouraged Sarah Duterte police to carry out thousands of extrajudicial killings of suspects during his five-year term in his “war on drugs.”
The International Criminal Court has called for a formal investigation into the thousands of murders committed during the fatal attack. Duterte initially said he would be vice president before changing his mind and announcing his resignation last month. However, on Saturday, citing his communications secretary, reports emerged that he would apply for vice president himself before the November 15 deadline.
Duterte Sr. “will submit his candidacy for Vice President on Monday,” Head of Presidential Communications Martin Andanar told local television ABS-CBN. However, the outcome was uncertain, adding, “I would like to believe this is the plan for now. However, we don’t know if it will be the same plan until tomorrow or Monday.”