MANILA: Vice President Sara Duterte said she has already recruited someone as running mate for her 2028 presidential bid as early as last year.
Duterte, however, refused to identify the personality, pending the person’s decision.
“I’ve already recruited someone,” Duterte said in Filipino during a Sonshine Media Network Incorporated interview aired on Saturday (Feb 21). “That’s all I can say.”
Duterte was the first to announce her 2028 presidential bid during Wednesday’s press conference at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) headquarters in Mandaluyong City.
But before she started, Duterte, clad in black, ordered staff members to remove the OVP seal and flag from the backdrop.
She explained that the move was done since her announcement “has nothing to do” with the OVP.
Duterte also said her choice of wearing black was made to show her protest against the administration of former President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos.
The political clans of Marcos and Duterte have been embroiled in a bitter feud marked by the vice president’s resignation in June 2024 as education secretary from the administration’s cabinet.
The president’s sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, aligns herself with the Duterte bloc after she severed her ties with her brother, as observed when she made explosive accusations against the president during the Iglesia Ni Cristo rally in Quirino Grandstand last year.
The possibility of Sen. Marcos becoming Duterte’ 2028 running mate was also floated in the Senate, with Sen. Robin Padilla saying he was gathering support for this tandem. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
