Philippines: Duterte's designated successor withdraws from presidential race

The candidate nominated by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to succeed him announced on Tuesday November 30 his withdrawal from the 2022 presidential race, believing that it was “not yet (his) time”. Senator Christopher Go, a close aide to the president, had entered the race for the nation's highest office two days before the November 15 deadline, having previously registered for the vice-presidential election. "My family doesn't want it either, so I thought maybe it wasn't my time yet," Christopher Go told reporters.

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His sudden exit narrows the field of candidates vying to replace Rodrigo Duterte, who is constitutionally barred from running for a second six-year term, but who is running for the Senate. Christopher Go said his decision to step down was also to avoid causing "more problems" for Rodrigo Duterte, whom he said he loved "more than like a father". "I remain loyal to him and promise to be with him forever," said Christopher Go, adding that "in recent days I have come to realize that my heart and mind are at odds with my own actions."

Most analysts gave the candidate little chance in the May election, but he was most likely to protect Rodrigo Duterte from the criminal charges he faces in the Philippines and an investigation by the International Criminal Court into its murderous war on drugs. "From the start, he launched a lukewarm campaign and it's absolutely obvious that he was pushed into it by President Duterte," said Jean Encinas Franco, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines.

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The son and namesake of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos has a clear lead in the race, hot on the heels of Duterte-critical incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo, famed Manila Mayor Francisco Domagoso and renowned boxer Manny Pacquiao , according to a recent survey by the benchmark institute Social Weather Stations. Former ally of the Marcos family, exiled in the United States, Rodrigo Duterte had recently criticized Marcos Jr, whom he described as a "weak leader (...) and overwhelmed with burdens". As for his daughter Sara Duterte, who was expected in the race, she filed her candidacy for vice-president and formed an alliance with Marcos Jr. The exit of Christopher Go from the electoral race could thus strengthen the “political force” of this alliance according to Encinas Franco.