MANILA: Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday she would seek the presidency in the 2028 elections — a bid that would have to withstand new impeachment attempts in Congress and criminal complaints that could ban her from public office if convicted.
She made the announcement in a televised speech where she renewed allegations of corruption and misrule against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. They were running mates in a whirlwind alliance in the 2022 election but have since had a bitter falling out.
She and her family have blamed Marcos for the detention of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who faces a potential trial for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, which ordered his arrest and detention in the Netherlands last year over his deadly anti-drugs crackdown.
Sara Duterte accused Marcos of reneging on his campaign promises and of misrule. She repeatedly asked for public forgiveness for problems such as government corruption, law-and-order issues and inflation.
“Politicians often avoid announcing their plans early so they wouldn’t be the target of attacks,” Duterte said. “But this administration has long destroyed my name.”
She then announced her presidential bid and left a news conference without taking any questions.
Marcos, who is limited to a single, six-year term, did not immediately react to the vice president’s presidential bid and her allegations. A presidential spokesperson, Claire Castro, said Duterte should apologize to the public for the many irregularities and corruption allegations she’s facing along with her frequent personal trips abroad.
“She should ask forgiveness for focusing on destroying reputations of other people instead of doing her work and helping the government,” Castro said.
Most of the allegations against Duterte had been included in an impeachment complaint she survived on a technicality last year.
The House of Representatives had voted to impeach her and sent the case to the Senate for trial. The Supreme Court, however, later ruled that the lower chamber violated a constitutional rule that only one impeachment case could be processed by it in a single year against an impeachable official.
The impeachment complaints filed this month centered on her alleged illegal use and mishandling of $10.3 million in confidential funds from the vice president’s office and from her time as education secretary under Marcos.
Another complaint accused her of having unexplained wealth, including in personal bank accounts. An anti-graft prosecutor has said his agency was trying to gain access to those accounts as part of a separate criminal investigation.
The vice president’s threat during an online news conference in 2024 to have the president, his wife and House of Representatives speaker killed if she herself was assassinated was cited in one of the impeachment complaints.
During the House’s original investigation into the allegations, Duterte refused to respond in detail to questions and skipped some of the televised hearings.
The vice president’s lawyer, Michael Poa, has said Duterte was prepared to confront these allegations and was confident “that a fair and impartial review will demonstrate that the accusations are devoid of both factual and legal basis.”
Rodrigo Duterte aligned himself closely with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin during his stormy presidency, which ended in 2022. He was succeeded by Marcos, who has deepened defense and military ties with Washington to confront an increasingly assertive Beijing in the disputed South China Sea.
Sara Duterte has been criticized for failing to publicly call out China for its aggressive actions against the Philippines in the disputed waters.
“Let’s be cautious and analytical. Somebody who is seeking your vote maybe a Manchurian candidate,” Castro said.