SEOUL, South Korea — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, 47, announced on Wednesday she will run for her country’s presidency in 2028, expanding the bitter feud between her and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Mr. Marcos, 68, is constitutionally limited to a single six-year term and in the Philippines’ spectacularly rough-and-tumble polity, it is unclear who in his camp would rise to the formidable challenge presented by Ms. Duterte.
Though Mr. Marcos and Ms. Duterte joined forces for his 2022 presidential run, their relationship has imploded spectacularly.
In the Cabinet, he made her responsible for agriculture rather than her preference, defense, and oversaw investigations into her funding.
Her high-profile father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, subsequently opened verbal fire upon Mr. Marcos, calling him a weakling and a junkie.
After resigning from Mr. Marcos’ Cabinet in 2025, she said, perhaps facetiously, that she had hired an assassin to shoot him. She was more statesmanlike Wednesday.
“I am Sara Duterte, and I will run for Philippine president,” she told a press conference, while standing in front of the national flag.
She slammed the current power structure for its alleged corruption.
“In the first few months of our terms, I already saw ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.’s lack of sincerity regarding the promises made during the campaign, as well as his sworn duty to the nation,” she continued.
She has and is battling multiple impeachment attempts — what she called “a scripted investigation” — from Mr. Marcos’ allies. If any succeed, she could be barred from a presidential run.
The upcoming political brawl will be closely watched from both Beijing and Washington.
While Mr. Marcos has been staunchly pro-Washington, Ms. Duterte has signaled a return to the Beijing-leaning policies of her father, who held office from 2016 to 2022.
On Wednesday, she also accused Manila of “kidnapping” Mr. Duterte.
He is currently imprisoned in the Netherlands. His trial on three counts of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague is expected to commence within days.
Dynasty vs. dynasty, reserve vs. machismo
Both Ms. Duterte and Mr. Marcos hail from the powerful political dynasties that have long dominated politics in the strategically located Southeast Asian island nation.
Mr. Marcos, 68, is the son of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, who ruled the Philippines before finally being overthrown in a democratic uprising against their large-scale corruption. His political base is on the main Philippine island of Luzon.
He has notably rejuvenated a 2014 bilateral deal to permit rotational deployments of U.S. troops on Philippine soil — a deal that was stalled under his predecessor, Mr. Duterte.
In 2024, those troops imported the Typhoon mobile, mid-range missile system, infuriating China, which demanded its removal.
After talks in Manila on Monday, it was announced on Tuesday that U.S. troops would deploy further missile systems in the Philippines.
Per bilateral talks in 2023-2024, Manila and Washington also agreed to build a port facility in the Philippines’ most northernmost island chain, Batanes.
Batanes’ northernmost island Mavulis overlooks the Bashi Channel, just 80 miles south of Taiwan. If, in a contingency, Chinese naval units sought to encircle Taiwan, that strait would become a critical choke point.
In 2025, U.S. units deployed a NMESIS anti-shipping missile system during drills on Batanes.
However, U.S. troops have not intervened militarily against China, whose forces frequently clash with over-matched Philippine forces over terrain features and fishing grounds in the South China Sea, west of the Philippines.
Ms. Duterte is a tough-talking pol who her father dubbed an “alpha” and who was once filmed punching out a court official.
He was renditioned from the Philippines in March 2025 by Interpol to the Netherlands for alleged crimes against humanity.
Thousands were killed amid his “war on drugs” that essentially legalized vigilantism, including the activities of alleged death squads.
A tough-guy local politician before winning the presidency, Mr. Duterte — and his daughter — maintain a strong political base in Mindanao, in the Philippines’ violent south.
Even in the presidential palace, Mr. Duterte maintained his macho, foul-mouthed personality, calling the U.S. a “lousy” country, insulting President Barack Obama and demanding, “Don’t make us your dogs.”
However, his charisma was undeniable, and he remains popular with many segments of the electorate.
It was during his term that Manila downplayed China-Philippines maritime tensions, while the 2014 Manila-Washington defense deal languished.
He also accepted a high-profile invitation to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping after leaving office in 2023.
Ms. Duterte has said she is “not pro any country” and only “pro-Philippines.”
While she has refrained from her father’s anti-U.S rants, she is far more cautious toward China than Mr. Marcos, and has declined to criticize Chinese vessels’ intimidation and coercion.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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