Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will be among those running for a Senate seat in elections scheduled for next year.

Duterte filed his candidacy on Monday shortly before the cutoff time.

The move ends speculation that he would vie for vice president, a position that his daughter Sara will be seeking.

It also contradicts an announcement he made last month, when he said he would be bowing out of politics.

Critics outraged by Senate candidacy

His plan to continue in politics has not gone down well with activists who have widely condemned him for his war on drugs. The crackdown has left more than 6,000 suspects dead.

There is the belief that Duterte's run for the Senate is an attempt to stay out of court. The International Criminal Courtin September authorized an official probe into crimes against humanity in the so-called war on drugs.

Jean Franco, a professor of political science at the University of the Philippines, said Duterte's bid for Senate was because he was "scared of the lawsuits and the ICC."

Rights groups have echoed this sentiment saying Duterte is trying to avoid being held accountable.

"Duterte's run for Senate is yet another attempt of the tyrant to evade accountability from the International Criminal Court and other accountability mechanisms," said Cristina Palabay of Karapatan, a left-wing alliance of human rights groups. 

Duterte will be seeking one of 12 Senate seats that will be contested in the May 9 election in 2022.

By law a president in the Philippines is limited to a single six-year term in office.

kb/aw (AP, AFP)