Duterte prepares to leave Palace early

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte revealed that he is already preparing to leave Malacañang and that he has started packing his things as he awaits the turnover of his post to his successor.

During a pre-recorded public address last Monday, Duterte said he intends to leave Malacañang next month and would only go there for his remaining tasks.

"I am packing my things... So I should be out...by March. I won't be here anymore by April. I won't sleep here anymore. Wherever God will bring me, I will practice sleeping there," the President said.

"I will just go here for a day-to-day work and what’s left of the things that we have to work on... I will make a speech one of these days thanking the people for the distinct honor of giving me the position as President," he added.

Duterte, who previously entertained the idea of seeking another electoral post after his term, said he is waiting for the inauguration of the next president.

"I (await) the day of turnover, I will experience the feeling of the outgoing President. I will be the one to meet the new president. Then I will invite him here for a talkatise, tête-à-tête," he said.

"Soldiers will salute you while you are president. After I leave, during the turnover here, I will give it to the new president, the soldiers will no longer salute me...That’s the protocol...They are not required to execute a salute because you are nobody. That’s how it is in our practice, in our government, in our democracy," he added.

The 76-year-old president initially accepted the nomination of the PDP-Laban party to become its candidate for vice president but changed his mind and announced his retirement from politics last October. A month later, Duterte filed his certificate for candidacy for senator but backed out from the senatorial race in December. Acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles had said Duterte's withdrawal from the senatorial race would allow him to prioritize the government's pandemic response and measures to ensure the peaceful conduct of elections.  

Duterte said he intends to stay in a small house after he exits the Palace.

"I plan to buy an affordable one. I cannot buy the more beautiful ones. After I leave, I won’t have a place to stay. I do not have cousins because all of them are in America," the 76-year-old President said in Filipino

"I said I will buy a (condominium), even if it's a small one, where I can stay while I am here in Manila. A two-bedroom house will do. After all, I am alone, I am old. All my children are politicians and they have their own lives. I don’t know where God will bring nme. But I trust that he would not let me down," he added.

Duterte will step down from office on June 30.