Two local chief executives in Sorsogon have reportedly lent weight to speculation that Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo could seek the presidency in 2028, according to Abante, which cited unnamed sources close to the matter.
The report, published July 6, 2026, said the two mayors affirmed that the former vice president is weighing a national campaign, though Abante did not identify them or explain how they came to know of her supposed intentions.
According to the same account, groundwork is already being laid within the Naga City government to line up a successor should Robredo vacate the mayoralty for a presidential run. That detail, attributed to an informant, remains uncorroborated by any on-record official.
The chatter runs counter to Robredo’s own repeated statements. In April 2026, during an interview with RMN dwNX Naga radio, she was categorical about her plans. “I am certain about myself that I will no longer run for any national position,” she said, adding that her focus was on completing the agenda she set as mayor. She has said she intends to seek reelection in Naga rather than pursue any post at the national level.
Robredo, who became Naga’s first woman mayor after winning in 2025, has framed a single three-year term as insufficient for the reforms she wants to push. Her decision to stay local has drawn commentary from analysts who see it as consequential for an opposition still searching for a figure capable of countering Vice President Sara Duterte, who has already declared her own intent to run in 2028.
Robredo’s last campaign for higher office ended in defeat in the 2022 presidential race, where she finished second to Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. by a wide margin.
