The battle is finally joined. Senator Risa Hontiveros has emerged as the consensus opposition candidate to challenge Vice President Sara Duterte in the 2028 presidential election, according to a coalition of political and rights groups.
Hontiveros, 58, is a seasoned legislator known for her work on health, women's rights, and anti-corruption. She was first elected to the Senate in 2016 and is currently serving her second term. Unlike Duterte, who's openly campaigned for the presidency years before the election, Hontiveros humbly waited to be called.
Sara Duterte, 48, is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, who's now detained in The Hague, Netherlands, awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity over the deaths of tens of thousands in his drug war. She announced her presidential bid early and has been actively promoting herself on social media.
The choice of Hontiveros, who's historically polled low, signals a shift in public awareness. Filipinos are realizing the nation is in for a moral fight and needs a righteous leader, not just a popular one.
Duterte's desperation may stem from the trouble she's in. Next month, she faces an impeachment trial in the Senate — where Hontiveros will sit as a judge — accused of publicly threatening to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and of embezzling hundreds of millions of pesos in taxpayer money.
"She is her father's daughter — it's all in the blood," the coalition said, referencing Rodrigo Duterte's legacy of extrajudicial killings, corruption, and treason.
The Duterte patriarch's regime (2016–2022) was defined by autocracy and a trillion-peso scandal involving fake flood-control projects. He also ceded sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea to China, allowing Beijing to gain military control and advance its neocolonialist designs.
Rodrigo Duterte's legal defense in The Hague costs nearly two billion pesos a year in lawyers' fees alone. The family has refused court assistance that would require proving they can't afford it, suggesting they have suspiciously sourced wealth they want to keep hidden.
To stay in power and avoid prosecution, the Duterte dynasty spends heavily on propaganda. Rodrigo has a son, a grandson, and a nephew in the House of Representatives, while another son holds the mayoralty of Davao City — a family franchise for over three decades.
But it's Sara who will require the most expensive shoring up. Her impeachment trial, though expected to fall short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict due to a Senate packed with Duterte loyalists, will be broadcast live nationwide. With smoking-gun evidence already previewed in pre-trial hearings, the trial could be decisive in the presidential vote.
Hontiveros, as a senator, will be among those sitting in judgment. Her emergence as the opposition standard-bearer unites a fragmented opposition that's long struggled to coalesce around a single figure. The rare consensus reflects Hontiveros's reputation for integrity and readiness to serve when duty calls.