Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is now an official candidate for president in the highly anticipated May 2016 national elections after a division the Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissed all disqualification cases agains him on Wednesday, February 3, 2016.
In a press briefing the commissioners of the Comelec First Division unanimously found the complaints without merit. The announcement was welcome with great applause from Duterte supporters, the good news was announced just as Mayor Duterte inspected his campaign headquarters in Greenhills, San Juan.
The tough-talking Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City faced three disqualification cases before the poll body over the clerical mistake committed by his political party’s staff in the filing of former presidential candidate Martin Diño whom he substituted as standard-bearer of the PDP-Laban political party.
According to Comelec’s First Division they found that:
Diño’s COC for president was valid
Diño was not a nuisance candidate
Diño’s withdrawal of this candidacy for president was valid
Duterte’s substitution of Diño was valid
Duterte did not commit material representation in his COC
