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DAVAO CITY: Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Tuesday said she was withdrawing her bid for reelection, stoking speculation about a prospective presidential run.

Duterte-Carpio on Facebook said she was withdrawing her candidacy for a third term as mayor. “Ngayong hapon wini-withdraw ko ang aking kandidatura sa pagka-Mayor ng Davao City. Si [Vice Mayor] VM Baste ang papalit sa akin. Ito lamang po muna sa ngayon. Maraming salamat po,” she said.

(“This afternoon I am withdrawing my candidacy for Mayor of Davao City. VM Baste will replace me. This is all for now. Thank you very much.”)

The mayor, who has topped surveys for the presidency, earlier said she and her father, had agreed only one of them would run for a national role next year.

Duterte initially said he would run for vice president, but in a surprise move in October said he was retiring from politics when his term ends in 2022.

He said his daughter would vie for the presidency with his longtime aide Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go as running-mate. Duterte urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to come up with a plan that would allow candidates in the 2022 local and national elections to hold even limited in-person campaigns.

“If they would allow us to assemble because you cannot campaign by just shouting at one corner. You have to have a place that – maybe they would limit the attendance and the number of people there,” Duterte said.

Duterte said not all candidates can afford to pay for political advertisements particularly on television.

“I’d like to remind the Comelec that you must give the candidates, really, the space and whatever modality there. Because there can never be an election without a campaign and other people cannot also afford – some candidates cannot afford the expense of [television] exposures,” he said.

The Comelec earlier noted a “major shift” in the election campaign amid the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez reminded the aspirants to strictly comply with health and safety protocols, particularly when holding political gatherings.

The candidates who will ignore the existing pandemic protocols are “endangering their own supporters,” he said.