Duterte a no-show on last day of filing COCs

MANILA, Philippines - Hundreds of his supporters waited for hours. But in the end, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was a no-show at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Manila where they had hoped to see him file his certificate of candidacy for president.

His disappointed followers would later get the real score from his Facebook post.

“A little over two years ago, I posted in the government website over the Internet that I was not interested in the presidency. Nothing has changed. I am comfortable where I am now,” he said.

“If Inday Sara would want it, she has the choice of running in 2016 or the next election. Personally, the earlier the better. I want to retire. I am tired. Give the presidency to the one who wants it. I don’t,” he added, referring to his daughter who was egging him on to run.

Another official of Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) – the political party of Duterte – came to the Comelec to file his COC for president.

Martin Diño filed a COC apparently to “reserve” a slot for Duterte in case he finally changes his mind and decides to run for president in the coming May 2016 elections.

Election rules allow a political party to replace or substitute one of their candidates as long as the replacement is a member of the party.

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said political parties have until December to submit certificate of nomination if they intend to replace a certain candidate who filed a COC.

But Diño maintained that he has long been a member of PDP-Laban and well qualified to run for president.

Several Duterte supporters, including anti-crime advocate Dante Jimenez filed their COC for senators. Even after filing, they stayed at the Comelec, apparently waiting for Duterte to appear.

Position no secret

Interviewed live by CNN Philippines later yesterday via phone patch from Davao City, Duterte blamed people close to him for “fouling up everything” that led to the confusion about his purported flight to Manila to catch the last day of filing COC.

He called his rumored change of mind “ridiculous.”

“The people close to me, they know all along I will not run. I told them that for the nth time, I will really not run,” Duterte said.

“The turn of events yesterday was apparently woven to make it appear I have changed my mind when I have already made up my mind as early as two years ago, I will not run (for the presidency),” he fumed.

Speaking in English and Filipino, Duterte also brushed aside speculations he would eventually be the “substitute” presidential candidate of the PDP-Laban or other parties wanting to field him as their presidential timber.

“Kawawa naman ako kung substitute candidate lang ako. But I don’t agree to that kind of rigmarole,” Duterte pointed out.

“I’m sorry but I am a man of my word. What I say in public, that’s it,” he stressed.

He recalled having shot down an earlier trial balloon about his presidential bid, and told those behind it: “Take me out of the loop, I’m not interested.”

Asked who he would support from among the presidential candidates who have filed their COCs, Duterte mentioned three of them and noted their respective problems.

“She used her (US) passport which was a repudiation of her Filipino citizenship,” he said of Sen. Grace Poe who is running as an independent.

Duterte expressed concern over the “spectacle” of Vice President Jejomar Binay “going to prison” due to pending plunder and graft cases against the presidential candidate of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). This could mean administration standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II, “could win by default,” Duterte said.

Trending

The excitement was so high hours prior to the end of the filing of COC that the term #DuterteSerye, an apparent reference to the teleserye-like turn of events, trended on Twitter yesterday.

The anticipation started when Sara posted on Instagram past noon an image of her notarized COC signifying her intention to run for Davao City mayor.

The move was unexpected, as her father had filed on Thursday, through his chief of staff, his COC for re-election.

In her Instagram post, Sara – also a former city mayor – called on Filipinos to make her father president.

“Remember this day. We don’t have the money. We don’t have the machinery,” she added in Filipino. “#justDUit #Duterte2016 Honor thy father and mother.”

The Instagram post immediately received thousands of likes, with netizens expressing excitement over the plot twist. “Sara Duterte” also trended on Twitter yesterday.

Sara was earlier believed to be among those against a presidential run of the feisty mayor. However, in a surprise move earlier this week, she posted photos of her hair being shaved.

It contained a cryptic message with the hashtags #justDUit and #Duterte2016.

Duterte has repeatedly turned down calls for him to run for president, despite the release earlier this year of a television advertisement featuring him and his achievements in Davao City.

With Sara’s supposed intention to run for mayor, netizens pointed at possible scenarios: she can go against her father for the city’s top post, Duterte can withdraw his candidacy and retire, or he can withdraw and file for another position such as the presidency.

The excitement among his supporters ran high when reports circulated that the mayor was aboard a flight to Manila, supposedly to file his COC.

His chief aide Christopher Go was seen wearing a shirt with “No is no” printed in front and “Sinabi ko na ayaw ko, ang titigas ng ulo niyo (I said I don’t want to, you are hard-headed) – Rody Duterte” at the back.

“I am sorry to disappoint those who spent much and worked hard and long in support of me as I went around the country espousing the benefits and advantages of federalism,” the mayor said in an earlier statement. “I therefore beg for everyone’s kind understanding and acceptance of my sincerest apologies,” he said.

“After all, there was no ambition for me to aspire for the presidency. The country does not need me. I find no need for it. I guess it is fate that wills that our long journey together should end this way,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said he would still pursue his vice presidential bid even without Duterte.

He also said that contrary to the impression of many, the Davao mayor has not flip-flopped in his statements about a possible presidential run. Mayen Jaymalin, Marichu Villanueva, Janvic Mateo, Jess Diaz, Edith Regalado, Evelyn Macairan