| Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. © Reuters=News1 © News1 Reporter Jeong Yun-young |
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who officially announced his intention to run for vice president next year, withdrew his plan and abruptly announced his retirement from politics.
According to the Financial Times (FT), a British daily newspaper on the 2nd, President Duterte held a press conference on the same day and said, “I am announcing my retirement from politics today. I have made this decision according to the will of the people who made me president.”
Earlier, Philippine President Duterte officially cast his vote for the vice president election last month, emphasizing that “first, civil war, second, crime, lastly, we will solve the drug problem.”
The reason Duterte initially ran for vice president was because the constitution prohibits a second term in the Philippines. The presidency of the Philippines is for a single term of six years.
As a result, some speculate that Duterte will take over the presidency again if Senator Christopher Koh, who is currently his closest aide, runs for president next year and resigns after being elected.
During his reign, Duterte declared a war on drugs and waged a bloody campaign, and it is estimated that thousands of people were killed. According to data from the Philippine government, President Duterte brutally murdered 6,117 drug dealers between July 2016 and April this year, when he took office.
In response, the International Criminal Court (ICC) recently approved an investigation into crimes against humanity by public authorities during the ‘Drugs and War’ campaign.
The fight against drug offenders has made Duterte the most popular president in Philippine history, but his approval ratings have waned since the COVID-19 pandemic.
In fact, a recent opinion poll shows that Duterte has been pushed to second place in the next year’s election preference poll, behind Senate Speaker Vincent Vicente Soto, who is a strong candidate for vice president.
Analysts are skeptical of Duterte’s announcement of his retirement, noting that a last-minute turnaround is still possible, as he did in 2015, when he ran into the last minute and won by a wide margin, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the Philippine presidential election is scheduled to be held on May 9 next year. The deadline for candidate registration is the 8th of this month, but each political party can replace a dead, resigned or disqualified candidate with the Election Commission until mid-November.
yoonge@news1.kr
