Sen. Risa Hontiveros answers questions from members of media during the Kapihan sa Senado forum on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at the Senate building in Pasay City. — Photo by Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros said she is open to becoming the standard-bearer of the opposition bloc for the 2028 presidential elections.
“I am not saying no, I am open to all possibilities and that’s what I have been asking my fellow members in the opposition or independent bloc: to be open to all possibilities for the sake of the opposition as well as the masses,” Hontiveros told reporters in a Kapihan sa Senado forum on Wednesday.
According to Hontiveros, there will certainly be a progressive or reformist candidate against the one who would be endorsed by former President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloc or President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s team.
“I have no idea who these people might be because that would be a part of the selection process, which I hope we would be able to design after nine months of unifying our forces,” said Hontiveros.
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The opposition lawmaker said concrete answers on whether or not she would consider running for president in the 2028 national elections will “naturally come somewhere down the road.”
“I think the most important of all at present is to be united in these nine months,” she said.
Hontiveros said her priority is to unify her allies and consolidate the process of selection for the “strongest possible slate in 2028” who would fight for them and win. /das
