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After withdrawing his vice presidential nomination from PDP-Laban and accompany Senator Christopher “Bong” Go to the Commission on Elections in Pasay City to formally file his certificate of candidacy (COC) for vice president.

No less than President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday disclosed that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, will pair with Senator Christopher “Bong” Go for the two top government posts in the May 9, 2022 national and local elections.

Duterte made the disclosure after an ambush interview outside the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay Cit.

The camp of Sara Duterte-Carpio, who filed her COC to run for Davao City mayor on the same day, had no reaction regarding the statement made by the President.

“No comment,” Liloan Cebu Mayor Christina Garcia Frasco, who is the officials spokesperson for Mayor Sara Duterte on the announcement of the president.

President Duterte withdrew his nomination as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the ruling party, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), and said he will retire from public service when his term ends in June 2022.

Go was previously proclaimed as PDP-Laban’s top candidate but he rejected the nomination.

Duterte’s latest statement came even if the Davao mayor has repeatedly rejected the presidency and filed her COC for a third and last term, also on Saturday.

Asked if his daughter’s presidential bid is already final, Duterte said “yes”.

“Ah, actually, hindi kami nag-uusap ng politika (we never talked about politics) ever since. Ever since, we never talked about politics. I would say that I did that [withdrawal of my vice-presidential bid] for the better,” Duterte said when pressed anew if he has given her the go-signal to seek the presidency.

He said he is not privy as to when the mayor would announce her presidential bid.

The President himself was a substitute bet in the 2016 polls, a replacement for Martin Diño.

Diño, chair of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption that time, withdrew his COC as he felt “insulted” that the Commission on Elections may declare him a nuisance bet.

COC filing will end October 8 while political parties have until November 15 to replace their candidates.