Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto is still below the age requirement to run for president in the 2028 elections, yet he is already being seen as a potential game-changer who could derail the plans of Duterte loyalists to propel Vice President Sara Duterte to Malacañang.
The chatter comes amid what appears to be a “demolition job” by Duterte supporters, aiming to discredit Sotto after he appeared before the House Committee on Infrastructure hearing on anomalous flood control projects linked to couple Sarah and Curlee Discaya—Sotto’s fierce political rivals in Pasig.
Recent numbers back the speculation. In the latest survey by Tangere conducted in August, Sara Duterte polled at 35% while Sotto closely followed at 34%—a virtual dead heat that raises the possibility of the Pasig mayor ending the decades-long dominance of one of the country’s most controversial political dynasties.
Currently, both chambers of Congress are deliberating proposals to lower the minimum age requirement for candidates for president, vice president, and senator. One of the measures was filed by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, the mayor’s uncle.
For his part, Vico Sotto has consistently maintained that he has no plans to seek higher office in 2028, reiterating the same stance during his oath-taking for a third and final term as Pasig mayor.
The question now is whether 2028 could set the stage for a showdown between two starkly different figures: Sotto, the reformist advocate of good governance, and Duterte, whose credibility in the fight against corruption has been clouded by questions over her controversial use of confidential funds.