Lagatar24 Desk
Manila (Philippines), Oct 2: Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines President on Saturday announced his retirement from politics. Last month he said that he would run for the vice-presidency in 2022 but today he said that he is dropping plans to run for Vice President and will instead retire from politics.
Duterte, the 76-year-old controversial “Strongman” figure came to power in 2016 on a platform of crushing crime and fixing the country’s drug crisis.
The move comes amid speculation that his daughter could run for president. The Philippines’s constitution only permits the president to serve for a single six-year term. Duterte’s daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, who is currently mayor of the southern city of Davao, has given mixed messages about running for high office. Last month she said that she would not join the race because she and her father had agreed that only one of them would stand in next year’s election. However, she has led every opinion poll conducted this year.
Duterte announced his surprise retirement at the venue in Manila where he was expected to register his candidacy, by saying that standing for the vice-presidency “would be a violation of the constitution to circumvent the law, the spirit of the constitution”.
