Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on October 2 that he would not run for the post of vice president in the next presidential election, and that he would retire from politics. "The overwhelming sentiment of the Filipinos is that I'm not qualified, and it would be a violation of the constitution," Duterte reportedly said. "In obedience to the will of the people I will follow what you wish and today I announce my retirement from politics," he added. Duterte's term as president expires in June 2022. Previously, he has been nominated to run for vice president in next year's election.

Under the Philippine constitution and electoral system, the Philippines has separate voting for president and vice president, so there could be a situation where the president and vice president are from different political parties. The incumbent President Duterte cannot run for president in 2022 because he is restricted to a six-year presidential term and cannot be re-elected. On August 24, Duterte announced that he would run for vice president in 2022. AFP News Agency noted that there has never been a case of a sitting president running for vice president in the Philippines before. Although it is not unconstitutional, it has drawn strong criticism from the opposition.

According to Reuters analysis, Duterte is paving the way for his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. Polls show Duterte-Carpio is the most popular prospect for next year's presidential election, but Duterte-Carpio has made it clear earlier that she would not run for president if her father ran for vice president. For Duterte and his party, they may take Duterte's eldest daughter, the 42-year-old Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, as the core candidate for the presidential election. There was an opinion poll this year that showed Duterte-Carpio was the most popular candidate for president.

Philippine Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, who is also from the ruling PDP-Laban party, said he would run for vice president in Duterte's place, Reuters reported on October 2. On that afternoon, he filed his certificate of candidacy for president in the 2022 Philippine election.

Philippine boxing icon and Senator Manny Pacquiao has announced that he will run for president in 2022. This means that the ruling PDP-Laban party has split into two factions led by Duterte and Pacquiao respectively.