Another candidate was added to the 2022 Philippines presidential run. The political opponent of President Rodrigo Duterte, Leni Robredo enters the fight just days after the son of ex-dictator Ferdinand Marcos Jr announced his bid.
Vice-President Leni Robredo on Thursday announced her candidacy for next year’s presidential election in a 15-minute video on social media to the cheers of her opposition-minded supporters.
“We need to liberate ourselves from the current situation. I will fight, we will fight,” Robredo stressed.
As vice-president, she and President Rodrigo Duterte have had a bitter relationship as she has criticized the drug war which has placed him in the judicial crosshairs of the International Criminal Court due to the extrajudicial killings of thousands.
The sitting President recently announced his retirement from politics following his term but will run for the vice presidency.
During that time, Robredo backed the “people power” protests that saw the ouster of the elder Marcos.
Robredo is also a former social activist who champions human rights and good governance. One of the messages of her announcement Thursday was: “We will defeat the archaic and rotten style of politics.”
More than 40 candidates have registered to run, but it is expected the field will narrow in the months ahead in the run up to the election, DW has learned.
