Posted on 10/02/2021 9:32:57 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Known for his violent crackdown on drug dealers and other unorthodox policy decisions that won him both admiration and hatred, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced Saturday that he would be retiring from politics after dropping his bid for the presidency.
That Duterte is ending his political career so soon is ironic. Many western political analysts and high-handed scribes once condemned Duterte as a violent authoritarian who would shift the Philippines' political system closer to that of Russia's.
However, that never happened. And now, Duterte, who is constitutionally forbidden from seeking another term as president, has decided not to run as Vice President in 2022, claiming "the public" doesn't support him potentially subverting the country's constitution to extend his rule (but we thought he was an authoritarian?)
Duterte's decision comes with a twist: his former top aide and now Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, who was believed to be the ruling PDP-Laban Party's candidate to succeed Duterte as president, has instead filed paperwork to run for the vice presidential spot, now that Duterte has withdrawn his candidacy.
"Today, I announce my retirement from politics," he said, appearing at the Commission on Elections center in Manila alongside Go, who also announced his decision to seek the VP spot instead of Duterte. "The overwhelming... sentiment of the Filipinos 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.
There's reason to believe that Duterte's retirement is part of a strategy of stepping aside to allow his daughter, Sara, to seek the presidency either in this cycle, or the next.
(Excerpt) Read more at noqreport.com ...
Philippine politics is a game of 5D chess. This is because the President and VP are elected by pluralities, not majorities, so there are all sorts of maneuvers of stalking horses and diversion candidates to split voter groups, etc. Their senate has similar issues, being elected at large in order of popularity. It certainly is a democratic system, but a very curious one.
Watched a TED talk by Dr Amen today on brain scans and behavior.
He showed retired pro football players before and after treatments.
Maybe this boxer was so amazing he never got his head beat on but if he did he should watch that TED talk.
This will be really fun to watch. Packman has no business as president. He will be the PI’s Biden, the public figure with the country run behind the scene by the Oligarchs.
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