Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. PHOTO

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Tuesday withdraw her certification of candidacy (COC) as mayoralty candidate of Davao City, one-week before the deadline of substitution of candidate for May 2022 national and local elections.

 In a Facebook post, Mayor Duterte said she will be replaced by her brother,  incumbent Davao City vice mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, who withdrew his COC for reelection earlier Tuesday. Sebastian will now apparently run for mayor of Davao City in the 2022 elections.

Duterte-Carpio, however, did not disclose further details on her next plans despite speculations that she might run for president or vice president.

“Ngayong hapon wini-withdraw ko ang aking kandidatura sa pagka-Mayor ng Davao City. Si VM Baste ang papalit sa akin. Ito lamang po muna sa ngayon. Maraming salamat po,” she said.

Duterte-Carpio’s latest political move gave more energy to talks that she would run for president in the May 2022 polls. She has long been rumored to take on the presidency and has maintained her lead in presidential surveys. But she has repeatedly said in the past that she will not run for president. She even claimed that she wanted to finish her term as Davao City mayor.

The Commission on Elections has set the November 15 deadline for political parties to replace or make substitutions of their candidates until November 15.