Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa formally withdrew his candidacy on Saturday, November 13 as the standard-bearer of ruling political party PDP-Laban for presidency in the May 2022 elections.
Dela Rosa filed his withdrawal of Certificate of Candidacy (COC) earlier today at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) hours after Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio submitted the substitution papers that formalizes her candidacy for the second-highest government position in the country.
Duterte-Carpio dropped her reelection bid for mayoral candidacy in Davao City and joined Lakas-CMD party as a substitute for Lyle Uy. She was immediately endorsed by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos as his running mate in the next year’s elections.
Dela Rosa said “it is a party decision and he is just following orders” when asked about his reasons upon withdrawing his COC.