PHILIPPINE Vice-President Sara Duterte has announced she will contest the 2028 presidential election, positioning herself for a national campaign just days before her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is due to begin pre-trial proceedings at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands over alleged crimes against humanity.
AFP cited today that Sara said she was offering “life, strength and a future” in service to the country. In her remarks, she criticised the record of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, accusing him of failing to honour commitments made during the short-lived alliance that secured their 2022 election victory.
She said she recognised what she described as a lack of resolve on Mr Marcos’s part within the first months of their joint administration.
Her declaration comes amid mounting political uncertainty. She is facing renewed impeachment efforts following the filing of complaints by church figures.
Under the Philippine constitution, impeachment would trigger a Senate trial and, if convicted, could bar her from holding public office, including contesting the presidency.
In contrast, a recent impeachment complaint against Marcos was dismissed for lack of sufficient basis.
The president has also faced scrutiny over an alleged multibillion-dollar flood control project scandal that has drawn attention from political rivals and even members of his extended family.
A spokesman for Marcos said Sara Duterte should apologise over corruption allegations before criticising the president’s record, while Marcos himself responded to her presidential ambitions with a brief “good luck”.
Political analysts say the timing of her announcement is significant.
Michael Henry Yusingco, a senior research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center, described the move as high risk but noted that her strong support base in Mindanao could offer a decisive advantage.
Cleve Arguelles, president of WR Numero Research, said the public declaration might be aimed at maintaining the loyalty of allies amid political volatility.
Professor Jean Franco, a political scientist at the University of the Philippines, said the announcement drew a clear line between supporters and opponents in light of the ICC case and impeachment complaints.
Meanwhile in The Hague, Rodrigo Duterte (Sara’s father) has made a last-minute request not to attend in person his confirmation of charges hearing before the ICC, raising uncertainty over proceedings that had appeared set to proceed on 23 February.
“I do not wish to attend legal proceedings that I will forget within minutes. I am old, tired, and frail. I wish for this Court to respect my peace inside the cell it has placed me,” Duterte said in a letter dictated to his legal team and submitted by his lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman.
Under ICC rules, judges in the pre-trial chamber may decide to proceed in the accused’s absence if there is sufficient legal basis, or they may deny the request and order him to appear.
Any decision must be taken within days, as victims of the drug war and their lawyers are expected to arrive in The Hague over the weekend, alongside Filipino journalists.
Kaufman said the defence had intended to file the request earlier but were required by judges to ensure that Duterte personally executed the waiver.
“Mr Duterte is not now capable of ‘personally executing’ anything, let alone writing a legally reasoned waiver in his own hand. That is why he has lawyers both speaking for him and drafting documents on his behalf,” Kaufman said.
He added that Duterte verbally dictated the waiver on 16 February, which was typed and later re-approved by the former president.
Although ICC rules allow suspects who waive personal appearance to follow proceedings via videolink, Duterte has also rejected that option.
“I understand the consequences of my waiving this right which has been thoroughly explained to me by my Counsel and I trust him and his team to challenge the sufficiency of the Prosecution’s evidence on my behalf.
“I do not wish to follow these proceedings from outside the courtroom through the use of communications technology,” Duterte said.
“I have accepted the fact that I could die in prison. But those that desire this fate for me should know that my heart and soul will always remain in the Philippines,” he added.
Kaufman has maintained that his client is cognitively impaired, despite an independent panel of medical experts finding him fit to participate in pre-trial proceedings.
Duterte faces three counts of murder constituting crimes against humanity, covering 49 incidents of killings spanning his time linked to the so-called Davao Death Squad and the nationwide war on drugs. The charges relate to 78 victims. - February 19, 2026
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