Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas dismissed Sara Duterte’s announcement of not running in the 2028 elections, saying the vice president’s announcement should be taken with a grain of salt.

“Hindi kami naniniwala, lalo’t mana siya sa tatay niya – kunwari ayaw tumakbo pero kalaunan ay maghahain ng kandidatura,” Brosas said in a statement.

(We do not believe it, especially that she takes after her father who initially said he is not running but would eventually be a candidate.)

Duterte told reporters in an interview Sunday she is not interested on being a candidate for the presidency in 2028.

“Hindi ko naman talaga ambisyon na tumakbo as vice president, lalong lalo na ang president.  Alam niyo naman lahat yan. Sinabi ko naman na ‘di ko gusto na tumakbo as president,” Duterte said.

(It was not really my ambition to run as vice president, let alone president. You all know that anyway. I already said I have no plans to run as president.)

 The vice president’s claim was the same line her father and former president Rodrigo Duterte said many times in 2015 before substituting himself as standard bearer of PDP-Laban and eventually winning in 2016.

Brosas however said that if Duterte indeed refrains from running in the next presidential election, “it would be her greatest contribution to the country, as it spares our nation from a continuation of governance that prioritizes personal interests over public welfare.”

“Ang hiling ng mga Pilipino ay isang bagong pulitika na magsisilbi sa mamamayan, at hindi yung bulok na pulitika na pansariling interes lang ang binibigyang halaga,” Brosas, herself a candidate for the Senate in the 2025 polls, said.

(The Filipino people are asking for a new politics that will serve them, and not the rotten politics that only gives value to selfish interests.)

Brosas added that whatever the vice president’s political plans are, she and her father should be made accountable for the extrajudicial killings on the Duterte’s so-called war on drugs.

The Dutertes are being investigated by the International Criminal Court and are set to be served warrants of arrests, along with other cohorts.

“Hindi niya maaaring takbuhan ang malakas na panawagan ng mamamayan para sa hustisya sa mga biktima ng nakaraang administrasyon,” Brosas said.

(She cannot escape the people’s strong demand for justice for all victims of the past (Duterte) administration.) # [Raymund B. Villanueva]