1 month ago
28
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
February 20, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte resorted to the early declaration of her presidential bid in the 2028 elections amid issues hounding her and her family, according to an expert from the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
In an interview with dzBB, UP Diliman Department of Political Science professor Jean Encinas-Franco cited the four new impeachment complaints filed against the Vice President, the charges of crimes against humanity filed against her father, detained former president Rodrigo Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the impending arrest of her allies in the Senate, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Bong Go, who were both included by the ICC as co-perpetrators.
“She needed it (early declaration of presidential bid) because there were events that were very related to her, at the ICC, the co-perpetrators were also mentioned by the ICC, then the impeachment proceedings against her. So, she needed to because if Bato and Bong Go are arrested, she would lose some of her loyalists (in the Senate),” Franco said.
After skirting the issue for months and ahead of the expected referral of the impeachment complaints against her to the House committee on justice, Duterte formally declared her presidential bid for 2028 on Wednesday.
Franco said that the early presidential bid of Duterte is part of her strategy to influence not only the Senate and the House of Representatives, but all politicians. “The House of Representatives may consider that she is strong in surveys, but surveys are only good when they are conducted, people are constantly thinking, but it’s a kind of pressure, I guess, her declaration to politicians, that you need to get in line,” Franco added.
According to Franco, President Marcos still has powers despite his low ratings. “Even if you say the President’s popularity ratings are low, he remains President, he has many formal and informal powers to convince the lower house,” she added.
During her press conference, Duterte did not entertain questions after her announcement. “That’s what they wanted to do, control the narrative, so that she wouldn’t be asked anything else, because VP Sara is not good at answering questions. She’s not articulate,” Franco said.
At the same time, Franco belittled the statement of Duterte after she asked forgiveness for supporting Marcos in the 2022 presidential polls.
“It’s true that she apologized but what does that say of her judgment? You can also tell her that you made that decision, so what kind of judgment do you have if in the end, you don’t like whom you helped to win, but you helped him,” she noted.
'Duterte is of sound mind’
Former president Rodrigo Duterte’s waiver and declaration is proof that he is of sound mind, House deputy minority leader and ML party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said yesterday.
“Its legal effect is based on the premise that he understood the statement so as to affix his signature to it,” De Lima said in a statement.
“It is evidence against Kaufman’s own argument that Duterte is not fit to stand trial because he is supposedly unable to give instructions for his defense. The statement is clear evidence that Duterte is able to defend himself,” she added.
De Lima said Kaufman’s statement is meant to serve both as propaganda and legal strategy. “It is propaganda as it projects a defiant Duterte but at the same time appeals to the emotion by saying he already expects to die inside prison. It is legal strategy because Duterte’s appearance will not serve any positive purpose but might endanger his defense in case Kaufman is not able to control him before the ICC judges, as Duterte is famous for his outbursts in whatever venue regardless of the solemnity of the occasion,” she added.
“The statement was obviously not prepared by Duterte. Duterte does not speak in such controlled manner. Duterte would have boasted that he implemented the drug war to save his country, rather than deny that any state-sponsored mass execution ever happened,” De Lima said.
She said the statement reveals that up to now Duterte cannot accept that human beings are subject to accountability for their actions.
“That the ICC is real, that there is such a higher power and authority that can put him on trial and hold him to account. That is why he says the ICC kidnapped him and has no authority over him. For him, nothing and no one is above him. Because of this, other than defiance and denial, the statement only reveals Duterte’s pathological mindset – he still thinks, even when already in prison, that he is not beholden to any law or morality other than his own,” De Lima said. – Jose Rodel Clapano, Delon Porcalla
