Sara Duterte, facing impeachment anew, declares 2028 presidential bid

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February 18, 2026 | 11:29am

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte declared on Wednesday, February 18, that she will run for president in 2028, making official what she had been floating — and then walking back — for over two years.

Duterte announced her planned candidacy in a speech that also delivered a sharp and direct rebuke of her former ally and runningmate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The vice president also refused to take questions from reporters after her speech.

"Ako si Sara Duterte, tatakbo bilang Pangulo ng Pilipinas," she said in a brief prepared statement.

The announcement comes over a year before the scheduled filing of candidacy for the May 2028 elections — and at least several months before Duterte herself had previously set as her own deadline.

As recently as November 2025, she told reporters she expected to announce her plans only in the "last quarter of 2026." In June of last year, she was still publicly downplaying surveys that showed her as the frontrunner, saying "2028 is still really far off."

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