Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said that members of President Duterte's Cabinet do not need to file their resignation letters if they intend to run in the 2022 elections, saying the filing of their certificates of candidacy (COC) will have the same effect.
Roque made the statement a day before the start of the COC filing period amid reports of members of the Duterte Cabinet intending to run for Senate.
In his press briefing on Thursday, September 30, Roque, who was still in quarantine after his trip to New York, said he has no information if any of his colleagues in the Cabinet have turned in their resignation letters.
However, he noted there was no need for them to resign since filing their COC will have the same effect.
"Wala pa po akong nababalitaang nag-resign (I haven't heard of someone resigning)," he said.
"Ang paghahain naman po ng certificate of candidacy will have the effect of resignation. So hindi na po kinakailangang mag-resign pag naghain ng certificate of candidacy (Anyway, the filing of the COC will have the same effect of resignation so they don't need to resign when they file their COC)," he added.
President Duterte has been urging a number of his Cabinet to run for Senate. Some of them are Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, among others.
For Roque, who has expressed his wishes to occupy a Senate seat, it is still a waiting game.
"Antayin na lang po natin ang Oktubre a-otso (Let's just wait for October 8)," he responded when asked if he will be running for Senate.
October 8 is the last day for the filing of the COC.
Roque earlier said that he will first consult his doctor if he is fit to run for Senate. He intended to run for the same post in 2019 but had to drop out of the race due to health issues.