PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte's "surprise" announcement last Saturday of his retirement from politics should have been a welcome move. Sen. Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go pulled his own surprise by filing his certificate of candidacy (CoC) for vice president. Duterte and Go defied their own supporters in the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) who endorsed their tandem for vice president and president, respectively, in the May 2022 elections. Pacquiao, who leads one of two warring factions in the ruling PDP-Laban, earlier contested the party's presidency as he vied to be its presidential standard-bearer in the 2022 elections. For sure, next year's political contests will be dirtier than the last, given the many platforms where disinformation spreads too rapidly.

Source: Manila Times October 03, 2021 14:12 UTC