Julia Christine Botin

Article (news)

David Dizon

ABS-CBN News

<p><strong></strong><strong></strong>Will it be a Leni Robredo-Erwin Tulfo tandem vs Sara Duterte-Rodante Marcoleta in 2028?</p><p>Talk about the 2028 presidential election is heating up after Vice President Sara Duterte’s recent announcement that she will run for President.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RyrE8-4rgKU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>For veteran campaign strategist Alan German, any candidate seeking to challenge Duterte’s massive popularity should have both moral backbone and leadership track record.</p><p>“The only thing that beats popularity really is performance. &#x27;Pag meron kang isang proven candidate, good leadership track record, meron ang tinatawag nating aspeto ng crusader, pagiging isang crusader at siguro dapat &#x27;yan itandem mo sa isang taong meron ang popular mass base. Tingin ko yan ang winning formula,” he said.</p><p>“May moral backbone na maaaring walang bahid ng any, syempre tumama itong mga scandals, etc. nung kasalukuyang administration. So I&#x27;m thinking an outsider, maybe Leni Robredo, even a Risa Hontiveros, why not?”</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9QboN8CLQZ8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Pairing Robredo with a popular candidate such as Sen. Erwin Tulfo would likely be a match to the D and E mass appeal of a Duterte, he said.</p><p>“If you can imagine a tandem like a Leni Robredo and Erwin Tulfo, meron kang one-two punch so to speak. Kaya mong tapatan yung D&amp;E mass appeal ng isang Duterte. At the same time, you have that progressive ethical crusader na appeal na appeal naman, patok na patok naman sa Gen Z voters. So tingin ko ano yan, good combo,” he said.</p><p>German rejected pairing Robredo with Senators Bam Aquino or Risa Hontiveros, saying these candidates likely have the same voter base. He noted presidential-VP tandems ideally should have different geographic strongholds.</p><p>“Ang tawag namin d’yan sa industry namin ay ceiling limit. Pare-pareho lang ‘yung bumoboto sa kanila. Walang naidagdag. Ano sila, medyo heavy term siya. Analog sila ng isa&#x27;t isa. So no new votes,” he said.</p><p>This holds true, he said, for whoever is paired with Duterte in 2028 amid talk that the Vice President could partner up with Senator Imee Marcos or Senator Robin Padilla.</p><p>According to German, a Duterte-Padilla pairing would have “little value added” because the people who would vote for Padilla will likely vote for Duterte anyway.</p><p>He acknowledged, however, that a Duterte-Padilla tandem would be more formidable than the rumored Duterte-Imee Marcos pairing. The reason? Many Duterte supporters are still ill at ease with the President’s sister, he said.</p><p>“Tingin ko that Duterte-Padilla would be better dahil number one, there is really still that hindi natin ma-deny na may mga DDS na diskumpyado kay Sen. Imee dahilan lang sa kanyang apelyido. May mga diskumpyado pa rin sa kanya. Inupakan nga niya ‘yung sarili niyang kapatid sa entablado pero kahit papano, yung mga DDS mayroon pa rin hesitancy dahil lamang na isa siyang Marcos. So I don&#x27;t think that would make a necessarily good tandem,” he said.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XZ0dfgMCsxw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>He also noted that a Duterte-Marcoleta tandem “would make sense” because those two candidates could possibly complement one another.</p><p>One aspect that could be considered with a Sara-Marcoleta pairing is that the Vice President could be repackaged as “very cool, calm and collected, and very measured with her words.”</p><p>“100% siguro nakita nila, may listening tools naman at nalaman nila na ang isang Vice President Sara Duterte, pag kalmado, pag medyo may konting lambing, that tempers her tapang, mas pumapatok sa panlasa ng Pilipino kaysa ‘yung all fire, all aggression,” he said.</p><p>On the other hand, he said Marcoleta could take the place of firebrand.</p><p>“Si Sen. Marcoleta naman, ‘yan ‘yung pwedeng umupak sa mga kalaban. ‘Yan ‘yung pwedeng firebrand, ‘yan ‘yung pwedeng pag-debate, siya ‘yung sisipot. So nice complementary pairing there,” he said.</p><p>German said there is one possible 2028 pairing that he can only describe as “disastrous”: ex-VP Leni Robredo teaming up with President Bongbong Marcos, with the latter sliding to the VP slot.</p><p>“I think that would be disastrous. Bakit? Dahil again, papasok na d’yan ang voter base. Ang voter base ng isang Leni Robredo maaaring ma-turn off sa pagpili sa isang Bongbong Marcos dahil ideological clash ‘yan. They hardly agree on ideological things. Same with the Marcos voters. Baka ma-turn off kay Leni. Leni Lugaw, ba&#x27;t partner tayo dyan?”</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wBMdWSD8Gms?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>German said there was still a lot of runway before the 2028 elections, with the impeachment hearings possibly taking shots against the Vice President. </p><p>“Dami pang pwede mangyari. There is no such thing as invincible,” he said. </p>

<p>Will it be a Leni Robredo-Erwin Tulfo tandem vs Sara Duterte-Rodante Marcoleta in 2028?</p>

Will it be a Leni Robredo-Erwin Tulfo tandem vs Sara Duterte-Rodante Marcoleta in 2028?

Will it be Leni-Tulfo vs Sara-Marcoleta in 2028? Campaign strategist chimes in

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Will it be Leni-Tulfo vs Sara-Marcoleta in 2028? Campaign strategist chimes in

David Dizon,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 20, 2026 11:17 AM PHT

Read More:

sara duterte

rodante marcoleta

robin padilla

bong go

alan german

leni robredo

erwin tulfo

risa hontiveros

bam aquino

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