President Rodrigo Duterte's top aide, Sen. Bong Go, on Saturday withdrew his candidacy for vice president to run as his replacement in 2022, according to an official of their PDP Laban party.
This means Go will run against the tandem of Bongbong Marcos for president and running mate Sara Duterte-Carpio, the incumbent president's daughter.
Go is running for president under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan or PDDS, said Melvin Matibag, secretary-general of Duterte's PDP-Laban.
President Duterte is running for vice president, his communications secretary Martin Andanar was quoted on ABS-CBN. This would mean going against his duaghter and political heir.
Here's a timeline of what went down on Saturday, as of 5:17 p.m. Politicians have until Nov. 15, Monday, to substitute candidates for national positions.
- Marcos told DZRH that he asked Duterte-Carpio to run with him as a team.
- Duterte-Carpio's spokesperson later announced her candidacy for vice president. She has not released a statement as of 5:17 p.m.
- Marcos said his Partido Federal was adopting Duterte Carpio as his vice president. Duterte-Carpio is a recent recruit of ex-president Gloria Arroyo's Lakas-CMD.
- Sen. Bato dela Rosa withdraws candidacy for president.
- Go substitutes as presidential candidate for Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan. It was not immediately clear why he was not running under Duterte's PDP-Laban.
- Several media outfits quoted Communications Sec. Martin Andanar as saying that Duterte would run for vice president though the incumbent president did not do so Saturday.