Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo has closed the door on a return to national politics, saying she intends to seek a second term as mayor instead of pursuing higher office in 2028.
“‘Di na ako ma-national,” she said in an interview on local radio station RMN DWNX NAGA on Tuesday.
The statement is the most direct Robredo has been on the subject, settling months of speculation that followed Vice President Sara Duterte’s formal declaration of a presidential bid in February. Duterte’s announcement had renewed pressure on Robredo from supporters and political observers who viewed the former vice president as the most viable opposition standard-bearer.
Robredo, who assumed office as Naga’s 18th mayor on June 30, 2025 after winning by a landslide with over 90 percent of the vote, had previously signaled reluctance to revisit national ambitions. In February, she told reporters that discussing 2028 this early would be a “disservice” to her constituents. A month later, she said it would be unfair to treat the mayoralty as a mere launching pad, adding that she could not be an effective mayor if her focus was already elsewhere.
She has also privately told allies, on multiple occasions, that she has no intention of running for president again — a position she appears to have now publicly formalized.
Robredo placed second in the 2022 presidential race with 14.8 million votes, losing to Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who drew more than 31 million. Since taking office in Naga, she has concentrated on flood mitigation, urban development, and tracing lost waterways — work triggered by the devastation of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine in 2024.
Her declared preference for local executive work over national office is not new. When drafted to run in the 2025 Senate elections, she also declined, citing the same reasoning.
