Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte may run for president in the 2028 National Elections, former Congressman Mike Defensor confirmed on Monday night, April 13, ahead of a House hearing on impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday. Speculation arose after ACT-Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio claimed that if Sara were impeached and convicted, her brother would be the Dutertes’ “plan B.”
“Kung kanilang aalisin si VP Inday Sara ay kakandidato [si Baste]. Ikakandidato namin ‘to,” Defensor told Bilyonaryo in an interview. “Kung ang paniwala nila [ay] matatanggal nila ang isang Duterte sa laban, nagkakamali sila, dahil mayroong Baste Duterte na maaaring tumindig para sa pamilya at para sa sambayanan.”
“Malinaw na may plan B ang mga Duterte. Ito si Baste. So pinapakita na siguro, kabado ang kampo ng mga Duterte na maaaring ma-impeach at magtuloy-tuloy at ma-convict sa Senado ang bise presidente,” Tinio said in an ambush interview earlier on Monday.
In February, Sara announced that she would join the upcoming presidential elections even as she faced three impeachment complaints at the time. In March, the House of Representatives Committee on Justice kicked off the impeachment hearings. Ahead of the Tuesday hearings, the Justice Committee also issued a subpoena to the Bureau of Internal Revenue seeking Sara’s tax documents, as the impeachment complaints cite her alleged misuse of confidential funds.
Local Politics
Compared to his sister and father, Baste doesn’t have a lengthy track record in politics. He has served as Davao City mayor since 2022, momentarily stepping out of the role after winning the vice mayoralty in the 2025 midterm elections. In January 2026, he was sworn in as mayor once more, as Rodrigo Duterte, who was elected mayor, remains detained by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. From 2019 to 2022, he also served as the city’s vice mayor while Sara served as its mayor.
Political Party
Baste is also taking on bigger roles in national politics as of late. In April, he was appointed the new president of PDP-Laban after Senator Robin Padilla stepped down to focus on his work in the Senate. Before the appointment, Baste served as the party’s executive vice president, a position now occupied by Davao City Vice Mayor Rigo Duterte, his nephew and son of Congressman Paolo “Pulong” Duterte.
New Role
Baste recently assumed the role of head convenor of the newly launched Reform Alliance for Good Governance and Accountability (RAGE) Coalition, a group of various political parties and organizations that claim to uphold good governance and truth, and which are also allied to the Dutertes.
“Isang ulo lang naman ang kailangan namin: ang ulo ni [President] Bongbong Marcos,” said Baste at RAGE Coalition’s launch on April 12. “Siya ang nagbukas ng usapin ng flood control na may mga ghost project. Ako tumahimik talaga, kasi hinayaan kong mag-self destruct ‘yang gago na ‘yan.”
In response, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro told reporters, “Hindi maaapektuhan ang pangulo sa mga personal na galit, personal na interes, personal na ambisyon […] Kaya ba hindi nagpaimbestiga nang malaliman ang nakaraang administrasyon dahil magiging self-destruction sa dating Pangulong Duterte?”
