Senator Grace Poe says she has no plans to run again for president in 2022

Philippine Senator Grace Poe today dismissed the idea that she will be running again for the presidency in 2022.

In an interview at the Blumentritt Market in Manila where she’s campaigning for re-election, Poe told the media, according to GMA News: “You know I think that’s done because I was already given a chance [to run for president]. The public has a lot of other candidates to consider.”

She added: “Even in the Senate, I can still help a lot of people,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Poe was a candidate in the 2016 presidential elections which she lost to then-Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. During the campaign, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) canceled her certificate of candidacy because the commission alleged that she hadn’t been living in the Philippines for 10 years, which was a requirement for all presidential candidates.

However, the Supreme Court struck down the COMELEC’s disqualification, which paved the way for Poe’s presidential candidacy.

Another controversy that hounded her were questions about her citizenship. Poe was abandoned as a baby in Jaro Cathedral in Iloilo City, which raised questions about whether she was a natural-born Filipino, a requirement for presidential candidates. The Supreme Court ruled that she is, given that the town has an overwhelmingly Filipino population and Poe’s features were typically Filipino.

Prior to her running for president, Poe’s adoptive father, the late actor-director Fernando Poe Sr., ran for president against then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004. Arroyo controversially won the race, a win that’s been hounded with allegations of massive election fraud.

Poe is running for re-election this year. Surveys, including the most recent one by Pulse Asia, have shown that she will emerge the top senatorial candidate on election day.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Poe was asked by reporters about her political ambitions because Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte might become the next president of the country. Duterte said she will decide if she wants to run in 2021.