Camille Naredo

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with his Economic Team at Malacañang Palace on Friday, January 30, 2026. Handout/PCO

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with his Economic Team at Malacañang Palace on Friday, January 30, 2026. Marcos ordered members of the Cabinet to submit biweekly reports on Philippine infrastructure projects, particularly classrooms being constructed around the country. PCO

Article (news)

MARCOS

Jervis Manahan

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177191627625720260130-marcos-economic-team-meeting-PCO3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with his Economic Team at Malacañang Palace on Friday, January 30, 2026. Handout/PCO" width="960"/>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meets with his Economic Team at Malacañang Palace on Friday, January 30, 2026. Handout/PCO</div>MANILA -- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday revealed that they are &quot;talking to some people&quot; and &quot;have some people in mind&quot; for the upcoming national elections in 2028.Speaking at a fireside chat during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Editors and Economic Opinion Leaders Forum, Marcos Jr was asked about the qualities Filipinos must elect for president.Marcos Jr said the leader Filipinos should elect in the 2028 elections should not be &quot;someone who is thinking about politics&quot;.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/18/sara-duterte-to-run-for-president-1102">READ: Sara Duterte to run for president</a></div>Forum host and ABS-CBN broadcast personality Rico Hizon asked the President if he could give a hint.&quot;Somebody who understands economics, that&#x27;s the first thing, that&#x27;s the first thing,&quot; Marcos said.&quot;A person who knows how to create jobs, how to keep inflation rate down, who understands to make food supply a given, someone who thinks about productivity, because growth is about productivity,&quot; he added.Marcos added that the leader Filipinos must elect in 2028 should be someone who is thinking about education, health, and food for the people.&quot;Somebody who is thinking not about politics, but how to make the country better,&quot; Marcos said.&quot;We need nation-builders. People who want to make the Philippines better. People who love the Philippines and the Filipinos,&quot; he added.Marcos was asked in jest if the President has narrowed down the list of possible leaders for 2028 to two or three names.&quot;Well, we have some people we are talking to, in mind, many of them actually, some of them said no,&quot; Marcos said.Pressed for clues if the name in mind is a cabinet secretary, a legislator, or a local official, Marcos Jr just laughed it off.&quot;It is much harder to bring to a presidential level someone who has not been involved in politics ever, it happens, but it is not that easy especially in the highly political atmosphere that we have here in the Philippines,&quot; Marcos said.&quot;It&#x27;s not that they don&#x27;t like the person, they just don&#x27;t know who they are and to build that up to a presidential level is quite difficult,&quot; he added.Marcos said he looks at names in government and notes there are exceptional names in government.Asked again if he will endorse the person soon, Marcos said it would not be soon.&quot;Timing is everything, Rico,&quot; the President ended.Vice President Sara Duterte had earlier declared her intent to run for the presidency last week. Marcos Jr. declined to comment on the decision of his former ally, only saying &quot;<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/21/marcos-reacts-to-sara-duterte-s-plans-to-run-for-president-that-s-her-choice-1335">That&#x27;s her choice</a>.&quot;He also visited a former rival, Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo, over the weekend but insisted that it was not in response to Duterte&#x27;s announcement.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/2/20/marcos-endorsement-for-robredo-untimely-for-now-says-palace-1246">READ: Marcos endorsement for Robredo? ‘Untimely’ for now, says Palace</a></div>

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday revealed that they are "talking to some people" and "have some people in mind" for the upcoming national elections in 2028.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday revealed that they are "talking to some people" and "have some people in mind" for the upcoming national elections in 2028.

Marcos Jr. admits 'talking to some people' about 2028 elections

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Marcos Jr. admits 'talking to some people' about 2028 elections

Jervis Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published February 24, 2026 03:05 PM PHT

Read More:

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Halalan 2028

2028 elections

Sara Duterte

Leni Robredo

politics

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