黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Not one, not two, but three members of the Duterte family will run for senator in the May 2025 midterm elections.

And the youngest of them will later gun for the presidency in 2028, according to Vice President Sara Duterte.

She spoke of the plans of her Davao City-based political household in an ambush interview on Tuesday, a week after she stepped down as education secretary.

Her resignation from the Cabinet punctuated long-running speculations about her strained ties with President Marcos, who had her as his running mate in the 2022 elections under the 鈥淯niTeam鈥� coalition.

READ: VP Duterte: My priority now is DepEd transition, not politics

Sara Duterte said her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, and her two brothers, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and Mayor Sebastian 鈥淏aste鈥� Duterte, would seek seats in the Senate next year.

鈥淎ll of them are raring to run,鈥� she told reporters in Cagayan de Oro, where the Office of the Vice President held a Pride Month event.

鈥淢y mother told me that my brother, Baste Duterte, will run for senator and he will run in 2028 (for) president,鈥� Sara added.

As to her own political future, Sara said that, upon their mother鈥檚 advice, she would return as Davao City mayor in 2028.

This plan, if it holds, would run counter to widely held expectations that she would target Malaca帽ang to be Marcos鈥� successor.

鈥楾hreat鈥� vs turncoats

Consider it both a 鈥渟how of force鈥� and 鈥渁 threat,鈥� especially to former Duterte allies who 鈥渂etrayed鈥� her and her father when Marcos took over, said Jean Encinas-Franco, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman.

鈥淭his is a message to the President and his allies as much as it is a message to their supporters that they are not down and out, that they are still there,鈥� Franco told the Inquirer.

鈥淏ecause why would they leave Davao?鈥� she added, referring to the Duterte bailiwick.

Backs on the wall

The family also wants to 鈥渕aximize鈥� the 鈥淒uterte brand鈥� of politics up to 2028, which Franco said remained popular for segments of the electorate.

鈥淭hey want to continue the things they are enjoying, whatever it is they are having right now. So, the more, the better, for more chances of winning,鈥� Franco added.

For political analyst Ronald Llamas, having three Dutertes join the Senate derby is an act of desperation.

鈥淚t could be seen as a desperate move to consolidate and prevent their sagging fortunes from totally disappearing,鈥� Llamas said in a separate interview. 鈥淎s you can see, they have their backs on the wall and their national and local political base is dissipating.鈥�

He noted that some Duterte allies in the Senate had begun to 鈥渏ump鈥� ship, same had 鈥渁lmost 98 percent鈥� of their other supporters.

The Dutertes, Llamas said, may have also become wary of the investigation being pursued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the former president鈥檚 brutal war on drugs, a matter currently being scrutinized by a House inquiry.

鈥淟et us not forget the elephant in the room鈥攖he ICC鈥攚hich is coming soon. So what will you do? You are desperate. Disrupt everything, turn the tables so you can make a mess,鈥� he said.

鈥淪o, they are very desperate. You have to make a move that is something out of the box, you have to make something disruptive. And this is classic Duterte disruption,鈥� Llamas added.

鈥楧igong 2.0鈥�

As for Sebastian鈥檚 supposed plan to run for president in 2028, this was not surprising since the incumbent Davao City mayor had long been packaged as 鈥淒igong 2.0,鈥� Llamas added, referring to the elder Duterte by one of his nicknames.

鈥淗e is the one who is very similar to Digong, more than Sara. And I won鈥檛 be surprised that all are focused on Sara while Baste will rise in the surveys and [be] the one eventually being pushed [to run],鈥� Llamas said.

For Maria Ela Atienza, also a political science professor at UP Diliman, the Vice President鈥檚 statements would all boil down to one thing: 鈥淭hey do not care about parties, programs and ideologies. Every move they make is about protecting the interest of the family, to the detriment of democratic institutions.鈥�