2022 Philippine Elections

Will she run? Robredo to announce decision on October 7

Mara Cepeda

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Will she run? Robredo to announce decision on October 7

ISTORYA NG PAG-ASA. Vice President Leni Robredo delivers a speech in December 2017.

Office of the Vice President

If Leni Robredo decides to run for president in 2022, it would be her third time to go head-to-head against her rival Bongbong Marcos

Vice President Leni Robredo will announce her decision on calls for her to gun for the presidency in the 2022 elections on Thursday, October 7, her camp said on Tuesday, October 5.

The Philippine opposition leader will make an “important announcement” at 11 am on Thursday at her headquarters in Quezon City, her office said in an advisory on Tuesday.

This would mark the end of Robredo’s long and winding discernment process on her potential presidential run in the high-stakes 2022 polls that would elect President Rodrigo Duterte’s successor. 

Robredo will make the announcement two days after her rival Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, announced his presidential bid

The Vice President had said that she would be compelled to gun for Malacañang if only to stop a Bongbong Marcos presidency.

If Robredo does run for president, this would be the third time she would go head-to-head against Marcos.

She had defeated him twice before: first during the tight 2016 vice presidential race, then in the electoral protest that Marcos filed against her that the Supreme Court later junked.

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For months, Robredo had kept allies and potential rivals guessing on what she would do in 2022. She has been going out of her way meeting with other possible presidential contenders in a bid to build a bigger coalition for all dissenting voices against Duterte. 

The Vice President believes only a united opposition stands a chance to win the elections and block an extended Duterte hold on power in 2022. The 1Sambayan opposition coalition already endorsed her as its presidential bet but she has yet to formally accept the nomination. 

Despite her stellar pandemic response programs, Robredo continues to lag behind in pre-election surveys.

Robredo wants at least a fighting chance if she makes a run for the presidency, because she does not want to split the votes of an already-fragmented opposition.

A well-informed Rappler source said that in looking for her possible running mate, Robredo wants to tap the broadest base possible. – Rappler.com

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Mara Cepeda

Mara Cepeda specializes in stories about politics and local governance. She covers the Office of the Vice President, the Senate, and the Philippine opposition. She is a 2021 fellow of the Asia Journalism Fellowship and the Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship of the UN. Got tips? Email her at mara.cepeda@rappler.com or tweet @maracepeda.