(UPDATE) VICE President Sara Duterte said she is “seriously considering” a possible run for the presidency in 2028, her first public acknowledgment of her political plans for the next three years.
Her statement came as her trust and performance ratings continued to decline, reaching below the majority level for the first time since she became vice president. It also came on the heels of three impeachment complaints filed against her for allegedly misusing public funds — a charge she has denied.
In a video posted on SMNI News owned by Duterte ally Apollo Quiboloy, who himself is facing human trafficking charges, a supporter asked whether she would run for president in 2028.
“We are seriously considering. … I really believe that our country will be great. It will be hard to explain to our countrymen because you really have to stand firm, especially with government policies,” Duterte told the audience in Filipino and English during a meet and greet in Tokyo, Japan.
Duterte added that there would be progress if there is “genuine unity” in the government. Supporters of Duterte were heard chanting with excitement when they heard that she was considering a run in 2028.
During the same meet and greet, Duterte told her supporters that some programs and projects of the Office of the Vice President will be cut due to the lower budget given to them for 2025. She said that they are discussing the projects that would be continued, as they are prioritizing projects in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
“We are prioritizing the underserved communities. Unlike town centers like Davao City [where] there are so many opportunities, smaller areas need more help,” Duterte said.
Duterte’s trust rating fell from 59 percent in the second quarter survey to 49 percent in the fourth quarter survey commissioned by independent pollster OCTA Research.
OCTA said her rating represented the lowest trust rating recorded for her since December 2023 and reflects a continuing downward trend for her.
While she continues to enjoy high trust ratings in her bailiwick, Mindanao, her rating there decreased by five percentage points, while she had the lowest trust rating in Balance of Luzon, where she experienced a 15 percentage point drop from 43 percent in the third quarter survey to 28 percent in the fourth quarter, and in the National Capital Region, where she had a 17-point drop from 47 percent to 30 percent.
Her performance ratings also decreased further, with only 48 percent expressing satisfaction with her performance, down 4 percentage points from the 52 percent reported in the previous quarter and her lowest performance rating since December 2023.
She continued to have a high-performance rating in Mindanao with a 92 percent rating, but her performance ratings dipped in the National Capital Region, where she got a 12-point drop from 38 percent in the previous quarter to 26 percent in the most recent quarter.
Meanwhile, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s trust and performance ratings dipped slightly from the previous quarter, with his trust rating declining by 4 percentage points from 69 percent to 65 percent and his performance rating dipping from 66 percent to 64 percent.
Senate President Francis Escudero and Speaker Martin Romualdez also saw a slight decrease in their trust and performance ratings, with Escudero posting 63 percent trust and 65 percent performance satisfaction ratings and Romualdez having 58 percent trust and 59 percent performance satisfaction ratings.
The survey had 1,200 respondents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent nationwide.
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