Duterte still eligible for Davao mayor race
Amid his arrest for crimes against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and detention in The Hague, the Netherlands, former President Rodrigo Duterte remains eligible for election as mayor of Davao City, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair George Erwin Garcia told reporters on Wednesday.
“As far as the Comelec is concerned he (Duterte) remains, as of now, a candidate. His name remains in the ballot and can be voted upon by our countrymen [in Davao City],” Garcia said.
He said the poll body would not act on its own and would wait if someone would file an election-related case regarding Duterte’s situation. The Comelec, he added, will study the case and apply relevant election laws and jurisprudence.
Garcia recalled that during the 2023 barangay elections, at least two candidates were behind bars but were still able to run, win and get proclaimed as elected barangay officials.
“Again, while there is no final decision for a disqualification [case] regarding a conviction or final judgment or whatever that can stop a proclamation, our commission, our laws will recognize the person who won the election,” he said.
“As information to our countrymen, so that they won’t be confused, the arrest of a person accused of a crime, even in our country, is not a signal to remove him from the ballot or disqualify him, or to deprive him of his civil and political rights,” Garcia added.
After his arrest on Tuesday, Duterte was flown to The Hague to face the international tribunal.
In a news forum in Manila, Comelec Commissioner Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda Jr. echoed Garcia’s statements.
Without specifically referring to Duterte’s situation, Maceda said a candidate’s absence in the country during the local campaign period starting March 28, coincidentally the former chief executive’s 80th birthday, is not a reason for disqualification.
“If you’re taking a vacation in [Vietnam] during the campaign period, that’s your call. You can be in Hong Kong for the entire campaign period, that’s your call,” Maceda pointed out.
He said a winning mayor, after proclamation, would have to take an oath of office at the start of his or her term to validly assume the position. If the mayor could not perform his or her duties, the vice mayor may take over as acting mayor.
No substitution
The Department of the Interior and Local Government, Maceda said, is expected to apply its rules concerning temporary and permanent absences later on.
According to Garcia, persons who have been convicted or judged with finality of a crime are disqualified under the Omnibus Election Code. But he could not yet say if that also included finality of judgment in cases filed and tried abroad as in the one before the ICC.
Garcia and Maceda said substitution would no longer be an option for Duterte after the schedule for the filing certificates of candidacy closed in October last year, except if the candidate dies or is disqualified. Under the election code, the substitute must bear the same surname as the candidate to be substituted and must come from the same party.
In the midterm elections, Duterte is seeking to return as mayor of his hometown Davao City, in tandem with his son, incumbent Mayor Sebastian Duterte. He is facing four other contenders, led by former Civil Service Commission Chair Karlo Alexei Nograles.
The Duterte father-and-son tandem is running under the local party Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, with a full slate of councilors in three districts, mostly incumbents. —WITH A REPORT FROM JOSELLE R. BADILLA
