Ex-President Duterte still a Davao City mayoral candidate – Comelec
Ex-Pres. Duterte’s candidacy as Davao City mayor stays – Comelec
Former President Rodrigo Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte is still a candidate for mayor of Davao City in the 2025 midterm elections even after his arrest for alleged crimes against humanity, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday.
“As far as the Comelec is concerned, siya pa rin hanggang sa kasalukuyan ay kandidato, ang pangalan niya ay nasa balota, at maiboboto ng kababayan natin. Tignan natin kung may magfafile ng something or whatever,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.
(As far as the Comelec is concerned, he is still a candidate, his name is still on the ballot, voters can still vote for him. Let’s see if something will be filed [against him.])
Duterte was arrested by the International Criminal Police Organization upon his arrival in Manila from Hong Kong on Tuesday morning.
He was the subject of the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity during his administration’s bloody war on drugs.
“Ang ating batas ay nagsasabing kailangang may final judgment of conviction. Di natin pa masasabi sa kasalukuyan kung ang conviction na binabanggit ay conviction dito o dito ay dapat na conviction na dapat sa abroad,” Garcia added.
(Our law states that there should be a final judgment of conviction. We can’t determine yet if the conviction stated is a conviction applicable for the country or conviction applicable abroad.)
Garcia said that if petitions to disqualify Duterte will be filed before the poll body, the Comelec will have to assess the merits.
Further, when asked if the final judgment of the ICC on the case of Duterte will be applied in the country’s jurisdiction, Garcia said that such a matter is “speculative” and should not be tackled at this point yet.
“Ang pagkaaresto ng isang tao sa isang binibintang na krimen, kahit dito sa ating bansa ay hindi senyales para tanggalin ang pangalan ng kandidato o upang idisqualify siya o upang siya ay mawalan ng karapatan, civil or political,” he noted.
(An arrest of an individual over a crime, even here in our country, is not a sign to remove the name of the candidate in the ballot or to disqualify him or to remove his civil or political rights.)
He added that a convicted individual can still run and be proclaimed as a winner if his case is appealed before any court.
Despite earlier pronouncements that he would retire from politics, Duterte is running for mayor with his son, incumbent Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, as his running mate.
The elder Duterte servedas Davao City mayor for two decades before he won the 2016 presidential elections with over 16 million votes.
