Philippine president says he has yet to decide who to back as successor

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr confirmed on Friday that he would endorse a candidate for the 2028 presidential election, but said he had yet to decide who he would back.

With Philippine presidents limited by the constitution to a single, six-year term in office, Marcos had been expected to back a candidate, as his fierce political rival Sara Duterte makes early headway in opinion polls on the 2028 presidency.

At an event with foreign journalists on Friday, Marcos confirmed for the first time that he would endorse a candidate, but said choosing one now would be premature.

"You have to see how things really shape up. I haven't sat down with anyone and said, 'do you want to run for president or not?'" he said. "The time will come. We will certainly provide the best candidate (for) the betterment of lives of the people. We will choose the best possible candidate."

Ally-turned-enemy Duterte, the estranged vice president of Marcos, announced in February that she will contest the presidency in 2028, which came amid a huge fallout between the two scions ⁠of powerful political families, who ran together in the 2022 contest.

Their alliance collapsed early into their term, leading to congressional scrutiny of the vice president's finances. The government later handed over her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, to the International Criminal Court to face murder charges related to his bloody "war on drugs".

Sara Duterte is the subject of an impeachment trial in the Senate that started on July 6 and is accused of financial irregularities, amassing unusual wealth and of threatening the life of Marcos, which she denies.

If convicted, she faces a lifetime ban from politics. Marcos has distanced himself from the impeachment, insisting it is a matter for the legislative branch.