[Rear View] What part of ‘I’m not running’ don’t you understand?

A real coalition should answer a question the pinks have rarely asked themselves: who can actually win? If the honest answer lies outside the tent, the tent needs to get bigger. Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo has reiterated her decision not to run for president in 2028, which has led to divisions within the Liberal Party and among her supporters. Despite Robredo's absence, Senator Raffy Tulfo emerges as a strong contender against Vice President Sara Duterte, highlighting the need for the opposition to broaden its coalition and appeal to a wider electorate. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo could not have been clearer when she declared on Monday, November 9 — for the second time this year — that she will not run for president in 2028. “Matagal nang sarado,” she said, adding that nothing will change her mind. The Liberal Party (LP) old guard heard her but remained unmoved. Representative Leila de Lima, who chairs the LP, called Robredo the country’s “best hope” and said she refuses to believe the decision is final. Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan resurrected the ghost of 2010, reminding all who cared to listen that the late former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino said the same thing. Pangilinan, Robredo’s running mate in 2022, has been warning since April that without Robredo, the opposition risks a leadership vacuum and a splintered coalition. Meanwhile, supporters of Senator Risa Hontiveros and Senator Bam Aquino were back at each other’s throats online within hours, treating Robredo’s statement as the starting gun for a succession fight rather than a call for serious groundwork and coalition building. I wrote in July that the pinks are their own worst enemies. Nothing since has changed my mind. What is shaping up is a not-so-civil war, generational and ideological, within the pink movement. Party of 4 presidents In one corner is the LP establishment, the party of four presidents, which still believes the 2028 standard-bearer must come from its ranks or at least carry its blessing. In another is Akbayan, the civil-society, social-democratic upstart that topped the party list race in 2025 and has been aggressively running its Risa Na! campaign since June. And somewhere in between is Bam Aquino, who left the LP, nominally some would say, and whose supporters see in him a third Aquino presidency. All three camps are after the same grail: Robredo’s anointment. There lies the problem. The organized pinks carry the conceit that the choice must be theirs alone to make, that the unified candidate against “Dutertismo” can only come from inside their tent. The rest are unworthy and impure. The surveys should give them a reality check. After Robredo, the strongest name against Vice President Sara Duterte is Senator Raffy Tulfo. In a commissioned Pulse Asia head-to-head conducted in February and early March, Tulfo tied Duterte at 46%. In Pulse Asia’s September survey, Duterte beat Hontiveros 60 to 23. In the three-way races without Robredo, Tulfo still placed second, ahead of Hontiveros and narrowly ahead of Aquino. A deep dive reveals the Tulfo advantage. In the March matchup, Tulfo led Duterte in the ABC class and is statistically tied in Class D, 47 to 48. Robredo’s edge over Duterte was confined to ABC; Duterte led her in D and E, or almost 90% of the electorate. The pinks may win the Makati and BGC crowd, but Tulfo competes in Cubao. The strong brand recognition for Tulfo is built on decades of delivering quick justice through media. The Tulfo brothers deliver where government fails, berating on the air the abusive and the callous. It is empathy the masa can see and hear and cheer, even those light-hearted episodes featuring quarreling couples. The pink personalities offer competence and decency, and voters keep telling them that is not enough. Ignoring Tulfo Like Robredo, Tulfo has said he will not run. The difference is that the LP keeps courting one and ignoring the other. There is a larger point the pinks keep missing or ignoring. The enemy is not only Sara Duterte. It is “Dutertismo” — the nostalgia for the iron hand, the desensitization to killings, the smart-shaming that has turned kabobohan into a badge of authenticity. Whatever the impeachment court decides, Dutertismo remains, along with a bench of heirs eager to inherit the base, namely Mayor Baste Duterte, Senator Robin Padilla, and Senator Bong Go. A guilty verdict disqualifies the Vice President from holding public office, but she can still campaign for the Duterte candidate. Jail her and the Marcos administration creates a martyr. Disqualify her and you have a fierce endorser eager to settle a score. “Dutertismo” is a populist movement, and populism has never been beaten by a lecture or an online essay. It is beaten by someone who can capture the protest vote before the Dutertes can consolidate it, and who can speak to Class D and E voters in a language they know and trust. None of the pink personalities has this to offer. I am not saying that the pinks should surrender their values. My point is that they should stop treating the presidency as an heirloom to be passed down within the party or family. A real coalition should answer a question the pinks have rarely asked themselves: who can actually win? If the honest answer lies outside the tent, the tent needs to get bigger. Until then, the LP will keep waiting for Leni, the Risa and Bam stans will keep fighting over an empty chair, and Sara Duterte, or the “Dutertismo” candidate, will keep harvesting converts. – Rappler.com Joey Salgado is a former journalist, and a government and political communications practitioner. He served as spokesperson for former vice president Jejomar Binay. How does this make you feel? Loading