MANILA, Philippines (Updated 1:35 p.m.) — President Rodrigo Duterte might fulfill his promise of stepping down from office if defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wins his electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said Duterte has been worried about his successor as he wants a "better qualified" person to replace him.
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"If there's a better leader or if there's a qualified leader to take over and he has said that Senator Bongbong Marcos is one of the better qualified leaders to succeed him, if there's developments and he will win the protest and he becomes vice president, yes, he will make true on his word," Roque said in a press briefing.
On Tuesday, Duterte said he was tired with his fight against corruption and, once again, mentioned his intention to step down.
"While I am not against or angry against anybody. My chase against graft and corruption seems to be endless and it has contaminated almost all government departments and offices," Duterte said.
Roque, on the other hand, clarified that Duterte would not be resigning any time soon.
"For now, he remains president," Roque said.
In April, the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, started the recount of votes for the election protest of Marcos against Robredo.
Marcos, son of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos, claimed there was "massive cheating" in the vice presidential race, which caused him to lose against Robredo by some 260,000 votes.
On Wednesday, Duterte said he prefers Marcos or Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero as his successors if ever he steps down as president.
Both Marcos and Escudero ran for vice president in 2016 with the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Sen. Grace Poe as their running mates, respectively.
Duterte did not even mention his 2016 running mate, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.
Asked about Duterte's preference on his possible successor, Roque insisted that Cayetano remains the president's top pick.
"Let's see what Alan Cayetano has to say about that... I'm sure his number one preference is Cayetano," Roque said, adding that Escudero and Marcos are not the only people included in Duterte's list of preferred successors.
"I guess he was just saying that there's so many other people who are better qualified but I'm sure the list is longer than just those two," Roque said.