SARA DUTERTE TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2028

VICE President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, February 18, announced that she will run for president in 2028.

“Ako si Sara Duterte, tatakbo bilang Pangulo ng Pilipinas (I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines),” she said in a press conference at the Office of  the Vice President in Mandaluyong City.

Duterte said it took her 47 years to realize that her life was never meant to be hers alone.

“For a long time, I questioned the weight of responsibility to my family, to my country, to everyone who called on me,”  she said in a livestreamed address.

The announcement comes over a year before the scheduled filing of candidacy for the May 2028 elections.

Duterte also asked her followers for their “forgiveness” over her previous support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during the last presidential election.

“I’m sorry if I helped elect BBM as President of the Philippines,” Duterte said.

According to her, the Philippines continues to struggle with rampant problems, from corruption to poverty and a cost-of-living crisis.

“I cannot kneel before each and every Filipino to beg for forgiveness. Instead, I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation,” she added.

The Vice President and Marcos Jr. become “bitter” rivals, particularly following the launch of a corruption inquiry in 2024 into Duterte’s  alleged misuse of government funds.

Their relationship then soured further when her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested last year by the Philippine National Police and Interpol upon the order of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The elder Duterte is now detained at the Hague in The Netherlands and being tried for alleged crimes against humanity over his “bloody war” on drugs.

Sara Duterte is facing four impeachment complaints in the House of Representatives for alleged corruption and making a death threat against President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.