President Bongbong Marcos is expected to endorse a presidential candidate to succeed him in 2028 and surely it will not be his vice, Sara Duterte. Both Marcos and Duterte won when they decided to forge a unity that was later known as the Uniteam. The combined forces of the Marcos loyalists and the diehard Duterte supporters catapulted Bongbong and Sara to the presidency and vice presidency.
The Uniteam is no more and the Dutertes and the DDS have routinely labelled the president as “bangag,” the Tagalog word for addict or someone who still has illegal drugs in his veins. Bongbong has been accused of having been addicted to cocaine in his younger years. In response, the Marcos loyalists are calling Duterte as “lustay,” or someone who has no qualms in spending money.
If Marcos endorses a candidate for president and Sara runs in 2028, there will no longer be a Uniteam to speak of. A BBM-endorsed candidate will be propped up by the loyalists while Duterte, who has already announced her intention to run for president in 2028, will be propped up by the DDS. This crack will pave the way for a third force, possibly the left.
But the left itself is problematic. They can be divided largely into two: the moderates and the militants. The current face of the moderate left is Sen. Risa Hontiveros. I doubt if the militant left, which still has no announced presidential bet, will prop up the senator’s candidacy. That depends on the outcome of talks that should unify the left factions. There are talks that the militant left may go for the former vice president, Leni Robredo, who is currently the mayor of Naga City in the Bicol region. And the political wind seems to favor whoever a unified left will support.
Given the crack in the Uniteam, the forces of Hontiveros and whoever BBM will support are visibly a weakened one. The Uniteam was perfect in 2022 because BBM had the money and Duterte was still popular. Duterte has become a spent force and while the Dutertes still have the following, the DDS is fast becoming marginalized. With former president Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague, the DDS is headless. Sara herself is being exposed as the impeachment trial continues. Her enemies are raking up the mud even if the campaign period is still far away. And we all know how the political wind blows. Filipinos always look for the untested one. The Duterte leadership style has already been exposed.
In surveys, Robredo can beat Sara if she runs for president in 2028. The Tulfos are even mentioned as props, meaning as possible vice presidential bets. As a Robredo supporter, I would say that 2028 is the right time for Robredo to take over the presidential mantle. Both the political wind and the political forces are making it favorable for a Robredo candidacy in 2028.
Of course, the next presidential race is still far away. But this does not deter us from throwing around our speculations. In the Philippines, bourgeois politics also partakes of a game of speculation. We like to play the role of a pundit even if we are just a heckler.