Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte is vying for a third term in Congress, ending speculation that he would join the Senate race alongside his brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, and father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Rep. Duterte formalized his re-election bid on Monday after filing his certificate of candidacy (COC) through his lawyer, Elijah Pepito.

He has served as Davao City First District representative for two consecutive terms, from 2019 to the present, and is now seeking his third term in the 2025 midterm polls.

The COC filing temporarily puts an end to the looming possibility of three Dutertes running for the Senate.

In late June, Vice President Sara Duterte disclosed that her brothers were considering a senatorial bid, along with their father, who topped the Oculum Research and Analytics survey of preferred senatorial candidates in the first quarter of 2024.

However, the former president denied his daughter’s pronouncement and, over the weekend, hinted at a possible comeback as Davao City mayor—a post he held for several years before passing it to his children.

The Duterte family has ruled Davao City for more than three decades.

As of now, the senior Duterte has not formalized his intention to run for the local post, as he has yet to file his COC. Mayor Duterte also has not confirmed whether he will seek reelection or run as his father's vice mayor.

Bato rocks COC filing period

Last week, Senator Ronald "Bato" de la Rosa, a close ally of the Dutertes, disclosed that the incumbent mayor was considering a senatorial run on the condition that his father would take over the mayoral post.

After joining the former president-led Partido Demokratiko Pilipino in September, De la Rosa said they had encouraged Sebastian to run for the Senate alongside another Duterte ally, Senator Bong Go.

However, according to De la Rosa, the mayor had yet to provide a concrete answer.

Aspirants for national and local positions in the May 2025 elections had until yesterday, 8 October, to file their respective COCs with the Commission on Elections.

The Dutertes and their allies have employed last-minute substitutions before.

In 2015, during his stint as mayor, the former president substituted for PDP-Laban's initial presidential candidate, Martin Diño, who was widely believed to have been a placeholder for Duterte, who went on to win the May 2016 elections.

Vice President Sara Duterte repeated this strategy by filing her COC as a substitute for Lakas-CMD's Lyle Uy—the party's original vice presidential candidate—just two days before the May 2022 election deadline.