I don’t know how Leni Robredo is functioning as Naga City mayor recently. Meaning, I don’t know how much she has changed since she defeated Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the post of vice president in 2016. Robredo lost to Marcos for the post of president in 2022. In 2025, she ran and won as mayor of Naga City. As 2028 nears, a segment of the population wants her to run again for president, this time against Vice President Sara Duterte.
When Robredo ran for president in 2022 against Marcos, the pendulum of public opinion had shifted to the right, a reality that began when Rodrigo Duterte succeeded Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in 2016. With Marcos and Sara, or should I say the forces of the right, uniting against Leni and with public opinion tilting to the right, the Uniteam of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte naturally won.
But much has changed since then. The Uniteam is no more and Sara has been spending time hitting Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. whenever she could. The older Duterte is in prison in The Hague and is facing charges in the International Criminal Court or ICC for crimes against humanity. Without him to personally lead his fanatics against Marcos, the so-called Diehard Duterte Supporters or DDS is a weakened force. And although she has been installed as favorite to win the presidency in 2028, Sara needs the Marcos loyalists and Marcos money to prevail. The right could not be united in 2028 against whoever the Left will field.
In contrast, the chance of the Left uniting against the right is bigger now. This is because public opinion is tilting to the left of center and because the right is weak in 2028. People have realized that supporting Duterte is unproductive. Meaning that the former Edsa forces are gathering the momentum to again prevail in 2028. That should be enough pressure for them to straighten up their act. Historically, these forces have the capacity to unite like it did in 1986 when Cory Aquino ran against Ferdinand Marcos Sr.