Ex-Philippine President Duterte plans to run for Senate next year, says daughter VP Sara

Manila: Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte plans to run for the Senate in mid term elections next year, his daughter and the country s vice p...

Manila: Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte plans to run for the Senate in mid-term elections next year, his daughter and the country's vice president said on Tuesday.

When Duterte's stormy presidential term ended in 2022, he said he would retire from politics, but he has walked back on his public pronouncements multiple times.

Vice President Sara Duterte said her two brothers also plan to run in the election while she eventually intends to return to her family’s southern political stronghold of Davao city, where she once served as a mayor, to run for the same position again.

She didn't say when she intends to do that. One of her two brothers, Sebastian Duterte, who is the current Davao city mayor, also plans to run for the presidency in 2028, she told reporters.

Sara Duterte ran as the vice-presidential running mate of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of an ousted dictator, under a hastily forged political unity ticket and both won with huge margins in 2022. The alliance of the scions of two authoritarian leaders combined the voting power of their families’ political strongholds but compounded worries of human rights activists.