By Isabella Magno

Senators Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Christopher “Bong” Go backed down from their respective presidential and vice-presidential candidacy on Saturday, November 13, two days before the deadline for substitution of election candidates.

Dela Rosa dropped his run for the 2022 presidential election just hours after a representative of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio submitted documents formalizing her candidacy for vice president.

Months before the announcement of his candidacy withdrawal, Bato said on October 25 that he would cancel his presidential race once Duterte-Carpio bids for the presidency. 

However, the presidential daughter instead decided to run for vice president under the Lakas-CMD party led by Senator Bong Revilla Jr.

Moreover, as confirmed by the PDP-Laban Secretary General Melvin Matibag in a message to the media, Senator Bong Go withdrew his bid for vice president to run for president under Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS).

Additionally, PDP-Laban President Alfonso Cusi emphasized that Go will run under PDDS despite him being a member of PDP-Laban just to “avoid legal complications”.

After Go filed his candidacy for the 2022 presidential elections, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar confirmed to Rappler that President Rodrigo Duterte will be Go’s running mate.

The current president is said to file his candidacy for vice president on Monday, November 15.

References:

Cupin, B. (2021, November 13). Bong Go backs out of VP race, runs for president instead. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/bong-go-backs-out-vice-presidential-race-runs-for-president-2022-polls?fbclid=IwAR2vKV6ifDLT03BCmZe8kwwPTmeLvfbJ97fhkXK3Jz3UIEMt_KB6EfseOp0 

Yumol, D.T. (2021, November 13). Bato Dela Rosa withdraws from 2022 presidential race. CNN Philippines. Retrieved from https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/11/13/bato-dela-rosa-withdraws-2022-presidential-race.html?fbclid=IwAR0XCN17DY4yqKDe8beyGpwl-KyY3FbfmsYbV19xhjba_5ijyJUdoHnEHEA