Sara declares 2028 bid amid new impeach raps
Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday declared that she will run for president in 2028, an early notice filled with spite toward her one-time ally, President Marcos, and delivered just as House members are set to take up revived efforts to have her impeached.
The announcement ended speculations about Duterte’s political plans since breaking away from the Marcos administration in June 2024.
Duterte, who still has two years left in her term, used the Office of the Vice President (OVP) as venue for the announcement. But before she started, she ordered staff members to remove the OVP seal from the backdrop.
She also disclosed her goal with only three session days left for two of three impeachment complaints filed against her at the House of Representatives to be referred to the plenary for consideration. This means the House has until March 2 to include those complaints in the order of business.
A fourth complaint, filed by lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera and endorsed by Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., was filed on Wednesday afternoon.
Duterte’s announcement also came less than a week before her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, again faces the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his confirmation of charges hearing on Feb. 23. The elder Duterte is accused of crimes against humanity over the thousands killed in his antidrug campaign.
“I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines,” the Vice President said in Filipino.
“It took me 47 years to understand that my life was never meant to be only mine,” Duterte also said. “Unlike others, I may not have been born just to chase happiness.”
Palace: Good luck
She did not take questions from the media after her announcement. Two versions of her speech, one recorded and the shorter version read during the press conference, were uploaded on the OVP Facebook page.
In Malacañang, Palace press officer Claire Castro said President Marcos gave a brief response when informed of Duterte’s move: “Good luck.”
Marcos and Duterte formed the UniTeam alliance that went on to dominate the 2022 presidential race. As vice presidential candidate, Duterte received 32,208,417 votes, or 62 percent of votes cast.
The vaunted alliance soon started showing cracks and finally crumbled when Duterte resigned from the Cabinet in June 2024 as education secretary and as vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, a body that was formed under her father’s administration.
At the time, she attributed her resignation to “true concern for teachers and the youth.”
In her speech on Wednesday, she said she decided to leave the Cabinet two years ago because, during the first few months of their terms, she already “saw the lack of honesty from Bongbong Marcos Jr. in fulfilling the promises made during the campaign and his sworn duty to the people”.
“Because I could not bear being part of the 2025 national budget that was riddled with corruption, I chose to leave the Cabinet—even though I knew since 2023 that the consequence would be my impeachment,” she said.
Apologies
Duterte, in the four impeachment complaints filed against her, is facing allegations of betrayal of public trust, bribery and graft and corruption, including the misuse of P612 million in confidential funds.
In her speech, Duterte also apologized for several things she did, including “helping” Mr. Marcos win as President.
“My fellow countrymen, I apologize. I apologize if I helped elect BBM as President of our country.”
The Palace sought to disprove Duterte on this point, saying the UniTeam victory was a “joint effort.”
“Let us remember that it was the Filipino people who elected President Marcos Jr. Whatever help he received from Duterte was a joint effort because they were both part of the UniTeam,” Castro said.
“So she should not take all the credit for the victory of President Marcos,” she added.
Castro also said the President neither had regrets nor felt the need to apologize for having Duterte as his running mate.
“The President did not foresee that he would work with a Vice President who would be always on vacation, who would not help him in his administration, and whose work would be to undermine the government,” Castro said.
‘Point of no return’
Duterte also apologized for what she described as widespread corruption in infrastructure projects that had caused massive floods, the outright abuse of institutions to serve vested political interests, the continuous rise in the prices of basic commodities, as well as the lack of food security and an effective health-care system.
“I cannot kneel before each and every Filipino to beg for forgiveness,” she also said. “Instead, I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation.”
Surveys
Inquirer columnist and political analyst Richard Heydarian said Duterte’s apology in light of her presidential bid announcement signals that “this is the point of no return.”
“This is already an existential struggle,” Heydarian told the Inquirer in an interview.
Duterte has been a consistent presidential front-runner in recent surveys.
“Conventional thinking would say she has the best chance of winning,” law lecturer and constitutionalist Michael Henry Yusingco told the Inquirer in a text message. “Survey numbers are in her favor.”
Duterte could then be banking on her political capital in view of “major setbacks” in her camp, according to Heydarian.
“She is still the prohibitive front-runner in a race where most potential rivals are still hedging,” Heydarian said. “So it’s a narrative shift tactic to remind everyone of her political capital and enduring popularity.”
As to the setbacks recently suffered by Duterte, Heydarian is referring to the possible trial of her father at the ICC; the possible issuance of ICC arrest warrants against the ex-president’s key allies, Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go; and her possible impeachment trial.
“Timing suggests its projection of strength amid major setbacks for her camp,” Heydarian said. “She feels the pressure to display defiance and determinism to win the Malacañang back for her dynasty.”
Yusingco said “announcing this early gives her a chance to fine-tune her strategy closer to the election” as Duterte’s impeachment charges “might also shrink the pool of potential financial backers she needs to run a strong campaign.”
According to Malacañang, Mr. Marcos has not yet discussed with his political allies the supposed proposal to form a coalition with the opposition led by Senator Risa Hontiveros for the 2028 presidential election, saying it was still premature. —WITH REPORTS FROM DEXTER CABALZA, GABRIEL PABICO LALU, DEMPSEY REYES AND INQUIRER RESEARCH
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