ELEKSYON 2022

Sara Duterte may run for national post but not under Hugpong —Comelec

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte may run for a national post in Eleksyon 2022 but not under her regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Wednesday.

"Political party po 'yan [Hugpong ng Pagbabago] pero regional. So hindi siya puwedeng tumakbo sa national level except as an independent candidate," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in an interview on GMA News' Unang Balita.

([Hugpong ng Pagbabago] is a political party but regional. So she cannot run for national level except as an independent candidate.)

Mayor Sara, daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, filed for reelection last month, but withdrew it on Tuesday. She did not give an explanation but just said her brother Sebastian "Baste" Duterte, incumbent Davao City vice mayor, will substitute for her for the mayoralty bid.

Vice Mayor Sebastian Duterte meanwhile withdrew his reelection bid on Tuesday before Sara did, and he nominated Davao City Councilor Melchor Quitain Jr. as his substitute.

Jimenez said Mayor Sara has to be a member of the same political party of the person she will substitute for, in case she will do so.

"Ang kailangan lamang ay maging member siya ng political party noong taong isa-substitute niya. Ibig sabihin hahalili siya sa ibang tao, kailangan kapartido siya ng taong 'yon," he said.

(What is required is she becomes a member of the same political party of the person she will substitute for. That means she will substitute for someone, they need to be party mates.)

Article IX, Section 77 of  Omnibus Election Code provides that: “If after the last day for the filing of certificates of candidacy, an official candidate of a registered or accredited political party dies, withdraws or is disqualified for any cause, only a person belonging to, and certified by, the same political party may file a certificate of candidacy to replace the candidate who died, withdrew or was disqualified.”

Mayor Sara however, if she will indeed substitute for someone who already filed a certificate of candidacy (COC) for a national post, will have to be a member of the same political party on or before November 15, Jimenez said. 

"Basta on or before November 15, kailangan party member na siya," the Comelec spokesperson said.

(On or before November 15, she has to be a party member.)

Sara wants to be president

In a separate television interview, Albay Representative Joey Salceda said he has a presumption that Mayor Sara will run for president, noting that running for vice president is not an option for her.

"May presumption kami na she's running for president. There is no VP option for her," Salceda told ANC.

Asked about Mayor Sara being the possible tandem of presidential candidate and former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Salceda said that was just a speculation.

"I'm not sure about that. Definitely, that's speculation because she's running for president. She's going towards the presidency," Salceda said.

Salceda further claimed Mayor Sara has always wanted to be the next president of the country.

"She didn't change her mind. She wanted to be president," Salceda said. "She wanted to run for president kaso may stumbling blocks that were thrown at her."

The Bicolano lawmaker refused to provide details on what prevented Mayor Sara to file a candidacy for president "in the first place."

To recall, Salceda disclosed in June that there is no doubt that Mayor Sara will be seeking the presidency in 2022. According to the lawmaker, he has been in touch with President Rodrigo Duterte's daughter almost everyday.

In a separate interview with House reporters, Salceda stressed that Mayor Sara running for president is the "only logical conclusion to all the gyrations in politics inside the administration."

"She wanted to run on her terms. she never yielded an inch so she's running on her terms," Salceda said.

Mayor Sara withdrew the certificate of candidacy for reelection that she filed last month. She said her brother and incumbent Davao City Vice Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte will substitute for her for the mayoralty race.

He said Mayor Sara's move of initially filing for the mayoralty race is no longer an issue following her withdrawal.

Not PDP-Laban?

Salceda said it is likely that Mayor Sara will not run under the ruling PDP-Laban party if she will push through to run for president.

Salceda said it is possible that the Davao City mayor will run under Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats. Earlier, Lakas-CMD's Prospero Pichay bared that they are open to having Mayor Sara as standard bearer of their party.

"Sa tingin niya sa PDP-Laban, mukhang hindi sa PDP-Laban eh. Ano ba sabi niya sa akin, malakas ang possibility sa Lakas," Salceda said. "May gulo pa kasi sa Comelec ang PDP kaya obviously hindi siya doon."

(Most likely it's not with PDP-Laban. There's a huge possibility that it will be Lakas. PDP still has an issue before the Comelec.)

PDP-Laban standard bearer Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa has said he is willing to be substituted by Mayor Sara for the coming elections.

PDP-Laban president and Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the ruling party "watches with keen interest" the developments on Mayor Sara's decision to withdraw her certificate of candidacy for Davao City mayor, especially considering the public support she enjoys.

"In any event, her actions, including any decision to run for a national elective office, will most certainly affect the political landscape," Cusi said in a statement.

Substitution

Under the Comelec’s calendar for Eleksyon 2022, substitution for a candidate in a national or local post can be filed from the end of COC filing period until November 15, 2021.

Jimenez said so far nobody has filed a substitution yet for the presidential and vice presidential posts.

"Sa ngayon po, wala pa. Inaantabayanan natin 'yan over the next few days," he added.

(As of now, none yet. We are awaiting that over the next few days.)

In a separate radio interview, Jimenez said in the history of Philippine elections, substitutions are usually made at the local levels.

“Ngayon sa national levels halos lahat ng posisyon sa national level ay subject to substitution na ngayon, again, medyo kakaiba po ito,” he said.

(Right now, all the positions at the national level are subject to substitution. Again, this scenario is quite odd.)

He affirmed the need for a process of substitutions amid criticisms by some sectors, including lawmakers, that it is being abused..

“Sa tingin naming kailangan ito [proseso] kasi nakalagay ito sa batas e. Sinasabi ng batas na kailangan na may ganitong klaseng proseso pero siguro tama nga na tignan kung baka pwedeng maglagay ng kaunting regulasyon para hindi lang walang dahilan [ang substitution],” he said.

(We think this process is necessary because it is written in the law. The law says that we need this kind of process but maybe it is right that we should look into putting some regulations so that substitutions won't be made if there are no valid reasons.)

“Kasi ngayon nga ang nangyayari at whim. Essentially, kung ayaw ng kandidato or gusto niya, meron s'yang hanggang November 15 mag-decide parang again that sort of runs counter to orderly elections,” he added.

(What happens now is at whim. Essentially, if the candidates wants to run or not, he has until November 15 to decide and again that sort of runs counter to orderly elections.)

Several senators recently filed a bill seeking to  amend the Omnibus Election Code by removing withdrawal as a basis of a candidate’s substitution.

Senate Bill 2439 deletes the word “withdrawal” from  Article IX, Section 77 of the Omnibus Election Code and replaces it with the phrase “becomes incapacitated.”

Jimenez earlier explained that substitutions of candidates can be made for voluntary and involuntary withdrawals.

A voluntary withdrawal occurs when an aspirant decides to quit the electoral race, while involuntary withdrawal refers to the death or disqualification of the aspirant who filed his COC.

“Voluntary withdrawal is still possible prior to November 15, and if there is voluntary withdrawal prior to November 15, then they can be substituted by a party-mate,” Jimenez said.

This rule is also applied to aspirants who died or were disqualified before November 15.

Substitutions can also be made beyond November 15, 2021 but only for candidates on the final list who died and were disqualified.

Also, these candidates can only be substituted by a person with the same surname until mid-day of the election day or on May 9, 2022.

READ: When can Eleksyon 2022 candidates be substituted? Comelec explains

—with Hananeel Bordey and Anna Felicia Bajo/KG/KBK/RSJ, GMA News