Who should Marcos support in 2028? Don’t count Robredo out

In the Aug. 12, 2025 edition of your paper, columnist Richard Heydarian asked, “Who should Marcos support?” (see “Succession: Who should Marcos support?”) I wish to contribute my two cents here.

Heydarian wrote that Sen. Risa Hontiveros was his choice for president with former Philippine National Police chief Nicolas Torre III as her running mate. I agree that this was not a bad choice. As one who wished that the Dutertes would not return to power for reasons Heydarian has been saying, I would gladly support his choice if the two decide to run as presidential and vice presidential candidates in 2028.

But I still wish that former Vice President Leni Robredo would run again in 2028. This is despite the misgivings of some due to her silence after the last election, where she ran and “lost.” A few have expressed disappointment in her for not protesting the results of the elections, which computer experts like the TNTRio are expounding on after they allegedly found evidence of computer manipulation.

The trio of former acting secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology Eliseo Rio Jr., former Commission on Elections Commissioner Gus Lagman, and former Finance Executives Institute president Franklin Ysaac alleged that it was “highly improbable if not impossible” for Comelec to have been able to count the over 20 million votes reported within one hour of the poll precincts’ closing. Their petition was filed before the Supreme Court. The filing fizzled out, after which they turned to the Comelec, which then acceded in writing to their petitions. In a Dec. 12, 2024 report, the Supreme Court ruled that a writ of mandamus: “Comelec cannot be compelled to grant or deny a request for ballot recount.”

Why Robredo did not file a protest is, in my opinion, understandable. An election protest is very expensive. In the protest of President Marcos when he ran and lost to Robredo in the vice presidential contest, he was required by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal to pay P500 for each precinct to be counted. He paid a total of P66,223,000 for the 132,446 precincts covered by his case. He had the money. If Robredo were to file a protest, she may be asked by the PET to pay at least P500 for each precinct to be counted, but did she have the money like Mr. Marcos had?

A protest would just be like a shot at the moon. There was an outpouring of support for her during the campaign. That river of pink in one of Manila’s boulevards, where her supporters sang Ariana Grande’s song “Break Free,” was proof of that support, as were the hundreds of thousands of supporters who flocked to her campaign rally in Batangas, where attendees brought their own food and drinks, which they shared with others.

Some say that Robredo should have asked her supporters to contribute funds to finance the election protest. They may be willing to give, but in my humble opinion, she did not want to abuse their generosity as they had already made great sacrifices during the campaign. Aside from that, given the huge amount needed to finance the protest and the person now heading the Comelec, any protest would be futile.

Robredo is quiet about the prospects of running again. She may be testing the waters in the sea of public sentiment as well as the opinions of Liberal Party leaders. With all due respect to Heydarian, I believe that Robredo should be given another chance. I believe that the grassroots of support are still intact and that when watered, they will come alive and grow even stronger.

RAMON MAYUGA,
ramon.mayuga49@gmail.com

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