Sara Duterte Declares 2028 Presidential Bid as Impeachment Threats and Father's ICC Trial Close In

The vice president of the Philippines stepped before television cameras on Wednesday morning and declared what much of Manila's political class had expected but few thought would come so soon: Sara Duterte will run for president in 2028 Philippine VP Sara Duterte announces run for president in 2028aljazeera.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte has said she intends to run for president in the upcoming 2028 election, following in the footsteps of her notorious father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. “It took me 47 years to understand that my life was never meant to be only mine,” Sara Duterte said on Wednesday..

"I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines," the 47-year-old said in a brief but carefully staged address. "I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation" Philippine VP Sara Duterte announces run for president in 2028aljazeera.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte has said she intends to run for president in the upcoming 2028 election, following in the footsteps of her notorious father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. “It took me 47 years to understand that my life was never meant to be only mine,” Sara Duterte said on Wednesday.. The announcement sets the stage for what promises to be one of the most consequential — and personal — electoral contests in Southeast Asia, pitting the Duterte political dynasty against the Marcos establishment in a country of 116 million people.

The timing was anything but accidental. Sara Duterte's declaration lands just five days before the International Criminal Court in The Hague opens its confirmation of charges hearing against her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, scheduled for February 23 to 27 Philippines VP Sara Duterte announces 2028 presidential rundw.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday she would seek the presidency in the 2028 elections, setting the stage for an early start to the race in the Southeast Asian nation of 116 million people. "I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines," she said in a brief televised speech. "I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation," she added.. The elder Duterte faces accusations of crimes against humanity over his brutal "war on drugs" campaign during his 2016–2022 presidency, which left thousands of Filipinos dead — many of them poor urban residents killed in extrajudicial operations that human rights organizations documented extensively. Rodrigo Duterte is currently detained in The Hague awaiting the proceedings.

The vice president herself faces a parallel legal threat at home. Members of the Catholic clergy filed fresh impeachment complaints against her in the House of Representatives just over a week ago, alleging corruption and the misuse of government funds — charges she denies Philippines VP Sara Duterte announces 2028 presidential rundw.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday she would seek the presidency in the 2028 elections, setting the stage for an early start to the race in the Southeast Asian nation of 116 million people. "I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines," she said in a brief televised speech. "I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation," she added.. Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment conviction by the Senate would bar her from holding public office, making the presidential bid a high-stakes gamble that her political allies can stave off the proceedings long enough for her to reach the ballot.

Perhaps the most striking element of Wednesday's address was Sara Duterte's public apology for her role in elevating the very man she now seeks to replace. In 2022, she ran as vice presidential running mate to Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., helping him tap into the Duterte family's enormous support base in the southern Philippines and the Visayas. Together, the Marcos-Duterte ticket won by a landslide Philippine VP Sara Duterte announces run for president in 2028aljazeera.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte has said she intends to run for president in the upcoming 2028 election, following in the footsteps of her notorious father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. “It took me 47 years to understand that my life was never meant to be only mine,” Sara Duterte said on Wednesday..

"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 said Philippines VP Sara Duterte announces 2028 presidential rundw.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday she would seek the presidency in the 2028 elections, setting the stage for an early start to the race in the Southeast Asian nation of 116 million people. "I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines," she said in a brief televised speech. "I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation," she added.. The mea culpa was directed squarely at supporters who feel betrayed by the alliance, which collapsed spectacularly after Marcos authorized the arrest and transfer of Rodrigo Duterte to the ICC — a move Sara Duterte has called a personal betrayal.

The Marcos-Duterte split has defined Philippine politics since at least 2024, when Congress launched a corruption inquiry into Sara Duterte's handling of confidential and intelligence funds during her tenure as education secretary. The vice president responded with an extraordinary public outburst, at one point making what critics described as veiled death threats against President Marcos, his wife, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez Philippines VP Sara Duterte announces 2028 presidential rundw.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday she would seek the presidency in the 2028 elections, setting the stage for an early start to the race in the Southeast Asian nation of 116 million people. "I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines," she said in a brief televised speech. "I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation," she added.. The episode shocked even hardened Manila political observers and deepened the personal animosity between the two camps.

Yet the political ground may favor Duterte more than her critics expect. In the May 2025 midterm elections — widely viewed as a barometer of popular sentiment — candidates endorsed by the Duterte family outperformed those handpicked by the Marcos administration, suggesting that the Duterte brand retains significant grassroots appeal, particularly outside the capital. Political scientist Cleve Arguelles, CEO of the polling firm WR Numero Research, offered a more tactical reading of the announcement. "When legal risk rises, so does the temptation to defect early to save one's own skin," Arguelles told Al Jazeera Philippines VP Sara Duterte announces 2028 presidential rundw.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday she would seek the presidency in the 2028 elections, setting the stage for an early start to the race in the Southeast Asian nation of 116 million people. "I am Sara Duterte. I will run for president of the Philippines," she said in a brief televised speech. "I offer my life, my strength, and my future in the service of our nation," she added.. The candidacy declaration, he argued, was designed to "freeze panic inside" the Duterte faction "before it prematurely unravels" — a signal to allies that the family intends to fight, not flee.

The geopolitical dimensions of the race are considerable. Marcos has dramatically deepened defense ties with the United States, including expanded access to Philippine military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, joint patrols in the South China Sea, and a warmer diplomatic relationship with Washington than the Philippines has enjoyed in years. Rodrigo Duterte, by contrast, pursued a controversial pivot toward Beijing and Moscow during his presidency, downplaying maritime disputes with China and questioning the value of the US alliance Philippine VP Sara Duterte announces run for president in 2028aljazeera.com·SecondaryPhilippine Vice President Sara Duterte has said she intends to run for president in the upcoming 2028 election, following in the footsteps of her notorious father, ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, who is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. “It took me 47 years to understand that my life was never meant to be only mine,” Sara Duterte said on Wednesday.. Sara Duterte has not articulated a detailed foreign policy platform, but her family's track record strongly suggests a return to a more Beijing-friendly posture — a prospect that will be watched closely in Washington, Tokyo, and Canberra.

The opposition, meanwhile, faces its own dilemma. Senator Risa Hontiveros said just one day before Sara Duterte's announcement that there was growing consensus within the liberal opposition to field a single unity candidate by the end of 2026. Whether the opposition can coalesce around a viable alternative — or whether the race devolves into a Marcos-versus-Duterte rematch that marginalizes liberal voters — remains an open question.

Constitutional constraints shape the battlefield in important ways. Philippine presidents are limited to a single six-year term, meaning Marcos cannot seek reelection in 2028. His political allies will need to field a successor candidate capable of holding the coalition together, and the Marcos camp has yet to signal who that might be. The absence of an obvious heir creates an opening that Sara Duterte is clearly eager to exploit.

For the Duterte family, the stakes could not be higher. A successful presidential bid would give Sara Duterte the power to shape her father's legal fate — potentially withdrawing Philippine cooperation with the ICC or pursuing domestic legal maneuvers to mitigate the fallout from the international prosecution. Critics argue this is precisely the point: the candidacy is not just about governing the Philippines but about protecting the family from accountability. Supporters counter that the Dutertes remain genuinely popular, that the ICC proceedings are a politically motivated exercise in Western judicial overreach, and that Sara Duterte's track record as a local executive in Davao City demonstrates competent governance.

The road to 2028 remains long and treacherous. Sara Duterte must survive impeachment proceedings, navigate her father's ICC trial, rebuild the political alliances she fractured by backing Marcos in 2022, and outpace whatever candidate the administration fields as its standard-bearer. But in the volatile, personality-driven arena of Philippine politics, early declarations carry real weight — they set the fundraising clock, galvanize supporters, and force rivals to respond. Wednesday's announcement ensures that the 2028 race, still more than two years away, has effectively begun.