The announcement comes in the wake of multiple impeachment charges against the vice president over corruption allegations.
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Published February 18, 2026
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has announced her intention to run in the upcoming 2028 presidential election, succeeding her notorious father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.
“It took me 47 years to understand that my life was never just mine,” President Sara Duterte said Wednesday.
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“I have long wondered about the weight of my responsibility to my family, my country, and all those who have called out to me,” Duterte said in a live-streamed speech.
“My name is Sara Duterte, and I am running for president of the Philippines,” she said.
President Duterte also asked his supporters to “forgive” them for supporting incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the last presidential election.
She said the Philippines continues to struggle with pervasive problems ranging from corruption to poverty and the cost of living crisis.
“I cannot kneel before each and every Filipino and beg for forgiveness. Instead, I will dedicate my life, my strength, my future to the nation,” she added.
Despite announcing his support for Mr Marcos’ election five years ago, Mr Duterte and the president have been fierce rivals ever since, especially after the 2024 launch of a corruption probe into Mr Duterte’s misuse of government funds.
Relations between the two then further deteriorated last year, when Ms Marcos signed on behalf of the ICC for her father’s arrest by the Philippine National Police and Interpol.
Duterte’s announcement of candidacy comes during a difficult week for the vice president and his family. She faces multiple impeachment charges in the House of Representatives on corruption charges and death threats against President Marcos.
Her father will also be arraigned in The Hague on charges that he committed crimes against humanity as part of the so-called “war on drugs” while serving as president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022.
Cleve Arguelles, a political scientist and CEO of polling firm WR Numero Research, said the father’s trial in The Hague had increased the risks for the vice president and his family.
Arguelles said the announcement was likely aimed at “freezing the panic” within his political faction “before it dissolves prematurely.”
“As legal risks increase, so does the temptation to seek asylum early to protect oneself,” Arguelles said.
“As water begins to enter the boat, some passengers search for lifeboats and others begin to push people overboard,” he said.
