Lawyer and singer Jimmy Bondoc, a longtime Duterte loyalist, is now among the names Senator Robin Padilla is floating as a potential vice presidential partner for Vice President Sara Duterte in the 2028 national elections.
Bondoc joins a lineup that already includes Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano; Senators Imee Marcos, Christopher “Bong” Go, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Rodante Marcoleta; and Salvador Panelo, who served as former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal counsel and spokesperson.
Bondoc currently holds a senior post in the Duterte camp’s party machinery. At PDP-Laban’s national assembly in Davao City, he was elected executive vice president, with former President Rodrigo Duterte installed as chairman, Alfonso Cusi as vice chairman, and Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte as party president, The Philippine Star reported in late July. He also sought a Senate seat under the PDP banner in 2025. Before entering electoral politics, Bondoc was among the celebrities who endorsed Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 presidential campaign, and he was later appointed to posts at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation from 2016 to 2022.
The endorsement reverses a gesture Bondoc made earlier this year. In a February 18 interview on One PH’s “Sa Totoo Lang,” he agreed that Padilla could be a suitable running mate for the Vice President. “I mean right now, loyalty is the most precious commodity and Robin has exhibited that,” Bondoc said, according to Bandera. He also pointed to the senator’s legislative record: “He has taken on very sensitive issues such as gender issues, divorce, and constitutional changes.”
Padilla, however, has since shut the door on his own candidacy. In a Facebook post on September 18, he said he no longer intends to seek public office, citing his young children and his wish for a quiet Islamic life. In that same post, he presented six names, all of the current list except Bondoc, as people he wanted the public to consider for the second slot on Duterte’s ticket, saying: “Sila po ang nais ko na pagpilian ninyo upang maging katandem ni Inday Sara” (They are the people I want you to choose from to become Inday Sara’s running mate). He thanked supporters who had pushed him to stay in politics, but said he did not believe he was suited to that world.
The Vice President formally announced her intention to run for president in the 2028 elections in February. On February 21, she said in an interview with SMNI’s “Vox Populi” that she had already picked a running mate the previous year but would not yet name them. By March 14, she said that person had not yet made a final decision to run for vice president.
Padilla’s September announcement marked a shift from February, when he told reporters he would consider the vice presidency only on the elder Duterte’s instruction. “If it’s Digong’s order, no one else can give me orders, only Digong. Because I really don’t like politics, everyone knows that… even my mother knows that, my siblings, my spouse. As long as Digong says it, I will follow,” Padilla said in Filipino, as translated by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
