Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has identified Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo as the opposition figure best positioned to mount a credible presidential challenge in 2028, pointing to her integrity and capacity to consolidate rival political forces under a single banner.
Carpio made the assessment during a May 4 appearance on One News PH’s The View From Manila, at a time when opposition personalities and groups are still in early discussions about forming a unified ticket ahead of the next elections.
“If there’s one person who can unify the opposition, it’s Leni really,” he said, describing Robredo as “somebody whom everybody can rally around.”
Current survey figures place Robredo behind Vice President Sara Duterte, who leads early presidential preference polls. Carpio acknowledged the gap but framed it as secondary to the question of coalition-building — an area where he believes Robredo has a distinct advantage over other potential opposition candidates.
Beyond electoral arithmetic, Carpio cited qualities he said define Robredo’s public character. “Well, you get what you see. She’s very sincere. She doesn’t amass wealth, and she’s very focused. And she listens to good advisers,” he said, adding that the country would be “far, far better off with her than with anybody else.”
Carpio also raised the possibility that the political landscape could shift considerably depending on how developments around Duterte’s impeachment complaint unfold.
Robredo, for her part, has repeatedly ruled out a return to national politics. As recently as late April, she told a Naga radio station that she has decided against running for any national post in 2028, saying she intends to focus on completing her agenda as the city’s first female mayor — a position she won by a wide margin in the May 2025 elections.
