Philippine VP Sara Duterte to run for president in 2028 elections

[MANILA] Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte said on Wednesday (Feb 18) that she will run for president in the 2028 elections while blaming incumbent leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr for the country’s problems, including corruption.

The daughter of detained former leader Rodrigo Duterte is considered among the strongest potential contenders in the 2028 race by opinion polls, with analysts saying her government could turn the major US ally away from Washington in favour of Beijing.

“It took me 47 years to understand that my life was never meant to be mine alone,” Duterte said at a press conference, outlining what she described as the government’s mounting failures, from inflation, an inadequate health care system, to persistent graft.

Duterte apologised for helping Marcos win the 2022 election when she ran as his vice-presidential running mate and helped him tap into her family’s huge support base. Their alliance paved the way for the son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr to seal a comeback for the disgraced dynasty.

“I cannot kneel before every Filipino to beg for forgiveness. Instead, I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation,” she said atop a rostrum which bore no seal from her office.

Presidential palace press officer Claire Castro said that Marcos wished Duterte “good luck”, while disputing the vice-president’s accusations.

Under the constitution, the president is limited to a single six-year term, which means incumbent Marcos Jr, a political rival, cannot seek reelection.

Foreign policy repercussions

Duterte’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is being held in The Hague over murders committed during his war on drugs during his presidency.

His 2016 to 2022 term saw a sharp pivot away from Washington and towards Beijing, a stance Marcos has since reversed by boosting US ties and taking a tougher, multilateral line against China in the South China Sea.

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Another Duterte presidency could reverse Manila’s foreign-policy alliances back towards Beijing.

Political analysts said that the timing of Sara Duterte’s announcement appeared strategic, coming as she faces another round of impeachment complaints accusing her of betraying the public’s trust, corruption and other crimes. She survived similar efforts last year.

“With the possibility of a second impeachment and the possibility of her being impeached, she might as well shift the narrative and make the impeachment and the attacks on her, colour it as a political ploy to knock her off the 2028 race,” said Julio Teehankee, a political science professor at De La Salle University.

But the move also carries risks, said Ederson Tapia, a professor of public administration at the University of Makati, as it could intensify political attacks against her and that could undermine her presidential ambition. REUTERS