Manila, 15 November 2021 (dpa/MIA) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday registered to run for a seat in the Senate in next year's election, avoiding a showdown with his daughter who joined the vice presidential race on the weekend. A representative filed Duterte’s certificate of candidacy for senator at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the last day that national political parties can submit their candidates for the May 2022 elections. The 76-year-old president will end his term in June 2022 and is not allowed to seek re-election under the Philippine constitution, which only allows a single six-year term for a president. He registered as a senatorial candidate under a political party allied with the ruling PDP-Laban party, which has a pending leadership dispute at the Comelec, said Melvin Matibag, secretary general of PDP-Laban. Duterte substituted for a senatorial candidate of the two-year-old PDDS political party, which advocates for federalism, Matibag said. “The PDP-Laban-PDDS alliance is further strengthened by President Duterte’s decision to file his certificate of candidacy for senator,” he said. “PDP-Laban fully supports President Duterte.” The Philippines will vote for a new president, vice president, half of the 24-member Senate, more than 200 member of the House of Representatives and thousands of local government officials in the elections next year. On Saturday, the president's daugther, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, registered as a vice presidential candidate of the center-right Lakas-CMD political party. Her candidacy prompted Duterte’s long-time close aide, Senator Christopher Go, to withdraw his registration as a vice presidential candidate of PDP-Laban and instead filed to run for president under PDDS on Saturday.