Risa Hontiveros on Possible Presidential Bid in 2028: “I’m not saying no”

Sen. Risa Hontiveros Speaks on Possibility of Joining the Presidential Race in 2028 Elections

RISA HONTIVEROS – The opposition Senator revealed her stand on the possibility of joining the presidential race in the 2028 Elections.

The opposition in the Philippine Senate is undeniably gaining additional forces following the 2025 Elections victory of Senator-elect Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan. Undeniably, countless Filipino, most especially the Kakampink supporters, have waited for the return of the two (2) former Senators in the upper chamber.

In the Senate, Senator-elect Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan will join Sen. Risa Hontiveros who was the lone winner from the Leni-Kiko senatorial slate in 2022. Former Vice President Leni Robredo was elated by the “come-from-behind win” of Kiko and Bam.

The two (2) returning senators ranked first and second in Naga City as well as in several provinces in the Visayas region. Sen. Hontiveros is also one of the incumbent government officials who are happy over the ranking of the two (2) senators.

Based on a report on Inquirer, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said she is excited to be working against with Senators-elect Kiko Pangilinan and Bam Aquino. Both of them lagged behind in surveys but emerged as the 2nd and 5th placers in the Top 12 senatorial race winners proclaimed by COMELEC (Commission on Elections) last Saturday.

According to Sen. Hontiveros, with the recent win of her allies, she is ready to take bigger responsibilities in the Senate. She is open to the possibility of taking the helm of the Senate minority leadership from outgoing Sen. Koko Pimentel.

Hontiveros also said that the “Pinklawans” will focus on unifying the group over the next nine months. Based on the report, amid their target of unity, the Senator maintained that the presidential candidate of their group in the 2028 Elections will be determined along the way.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros stressed that her priority now is to consolidate their forces. She emphasized the importance of their unity.

“My priority right now, and I say this to my colleagues and allies, is to consolidate [our forces] … to a greater degree than [what] we were able to do after 2022,” she said.

Based on the report, asked if she is open for a possible presidential bid in 2028, Sen. Risa Hontiveros admitted that she is open to the possibilities. According to her, it is also the same thing that she asks from her allies — to be open to all possibilities.

“I’m not saying no. I’m open to all possibilities. And that is what I’m also asking to all my colleagues in the opposition or independent bloc—to be open to all possibilities and to each other for the sake of the opposition and our countrymen,” Hontiveros said.

Aside from senators-elect Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan, former Vice Pres. Leni Robredo also won as the first female mayor in Naga. Happy over the victory of her allies in the 2028 Senatorial Race, the former Vice President stressed that hope is really alive.