Members of the Makabayan bloc on Saturday, October 2, called President Duterte's retirement from politics a "joke".
Bayan Muna Representatives Carlos Zarate and Ferdinand Gaite both cast doubts on Duterte's retirement, saying it could just be one of his tricks.
"In September, 2015 he also announced that he was retiring from politics; yet he did not. Instead, the people and the country were then taken for a ride with a last minute candidacy switch. Thereafter, he made several more retirement/resigning announcements that turned out to be 'jetskied,'" Zarate said in a statement.
"People should no longer take this latest retirement statement seriously. It is clearly part of the Duterte clique's dubious scheme to hoodwink once again the electorate. Dapat #DuterteWakasanNa," he added.
Gaite, in a tweet from his Twitter account, said: "On Duterte's retirement from politics - We will await clarification from Spokesperson Roque. This could just be another one of Duterte's "jokes."
Duterte, instead of filing his certificate of candidacy (COC) for vice president in the 2022 national election, surprised the country by announcing his retirement from politics.
The startling announcement came on the day he was expected to file his COC for vice president before the Comelec.
The President arrived with his long-time aide Senator Christopher "Bong" Go at the Comelec COC filing venue at the Harbor Garden Tent of Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City past 3 p.m. but instead of him, Go was the one who filed his COC as the vice president bet of the PDP-Laban Cusi faction.
Duterte, in a speech after the filing, wished Go the best in his quest for the vice presidency.
The President said that he decided to drop out of the vice presidential race because of the sentiment of the people.
“The overwhelming sentiment of the Filipino is that I am not qualified and it would be a violation of the Constitution to circumvent the law, the spirit of the Constitution,” Duterte said. (Melvin Sarangay)