FALSE: Rodrigo Duterte withdraws mayoral bid, to run for Senate
Danniell Domingo
An X post explicitly claimed that Former President Rodrigo Duterte has cancelled his certificate of candidacy (COC) to join the 2025 senatorial race on Oct. 8, just after a day of announcing that he will run for Davao City mayor.
CLAIM: Former President Rodrigo Duterte cancelled his certificate of candidacy (COC) for Davao City mayor to instead run for a Senate seat on the last day of COC filing.
RATING: FALSE
CONCLUSION: Since Oct. 7, the day Former President Rodrigo Duterte filed his candidacy, there has been no recent news that he will instead run for a Senate seat. The photo was taken on Oct. 7, where it was posted on the official Facebook account of Duterte.
The rumor likely stemmed from a report to Duterte’s whereabouts, where he was currently at Metro Manila on Oct.8. People may have thought that he would file a candidacy for a senatorial post for the 2025 midterm elections,
However, lawyer Salvador Panelo, the former spokesperson of Duterte, stressed that the rumors regarding the former president’s potential senatorial bid was fake news.
Panelo cited that ‘prior commitments’ were the reason Duterte was in Metro Manila that day.
There will be no Duterte in the 2025 midterm elections as the elder Duterte and his two sons will be gunning for a local post at Davao City.
Rodrigo Duterte will be running for Davao City Mayor, with his son Mayor Sebastian Duterte as his running candidate for vice president. Paolo Duterte will run for 1st District Representative of the city.
The COC filing for national and local posts started on Oct. 1 and ended on Oct. 8.