OURVote2022: The Candidates
DAVAO CITY (MiindaNews / 09 November) – Mayor Sara Duterte on Tuesday afternoon withdrew from the mayoralty race in favor of youngest brother Sebastian, who will be her substitute for the post of Mayor.
Sebastian, who was certain of a second term as Vice Mayor as he is running unopposed for that post, had announced at noon that he had withdrawn his candidacy for Vice Mayor without citing any reason.
He merely said he had “no other details to share at the moment.
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The “moment” came less than three hours later, when sister Sara went to the Commission on Elections office in Magsaysay Park to withdraw her candidacy for Mayor.
Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte talks to reporters outside the office of the Commission on Elections in Magsaysay Park, Davao City, after filing his certificate of candidacy for Mayor on 9 November 2021. Mayor Sara Duterte withdrew from the mayoralty race in favor of brother Sebastian, but has kept mum about her future plan. Her withdrawal in the mayoralty race is being interepreted to pave the way for her candidacy as President or Vice President. The last day for substitution of candidates is on Monday, November 15. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
“Ngayong hapon wini-withdraw ko ang akong kandidatura sa pagka-Mayor ng Davao City. Si VM Baste ang papalit sa akin. Si Atty. Melchof Quitain ang nominado naming sa pagka-Bise Alkalde. Ito lamang po muna. Maraming Salamat po” (This afternoon, I am withdrawing my candidacy for mayor of Davao City. Vice Mayor Baste will replace me. Atty. Melchor Quitaing has been nominated to be our Vice Mayor. This is all for now. Thank you very much),” she announced through her Facebook page.
She also posted several photographs taken at the Comelec office.
The last day for substitution of candidates is on November 15.
Mayor Duterte’s withdrawal from the mayoralty race without citing any reason, is being interpreted by various sectors as a move that would pave the way for her running for a national post – as President or Vice President of the Philippines.
Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte files his candidacy for vice mayor of Davao City on 17 October 2018 at the COMELEC Office in Magsaysay Park, Davao City. Accompanying him is his sister, Mayor Sara Duterte, who is seeking reelection as city mayor. Baste is running unopposed. Former Vice Mayor Paolo ‘Pulong’ Duterte is also running as representative of the first congressional district of Davao City. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
In his two-paragraph statement on his withdrawal as candidate for reelection, Sebastian said he was “deeply grateful to the Dabawenyos for the support they have given me all this time. I have no other details to share at the moment,” he said.
Sebastian entered the political arena in 2019. He filed his certificate of candidacy for reelection as Vice Mayor on October 3. He also ran unopposed in 2019.
The May 2022 elections will be the first for Sebastian to run with opponents. The post for mayor has three other candidates: former 3rd district Representative Ruy Elias Lopez, herbalist Joseph Hannibal Cervantes Elizalde and safety officer Teodoro Pena Mantilla.
Of the three other candidates running against Sebastian, only Lopez has experienced a city-wide campaign – for his father Elias, a two-term mayor, and for Sebastian’s father, Rodrigo.
The late mayro Elias Lopez helped Sebastian’s father, Rodrigo in his career as lawyer and as a politician. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
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