To put a finer point on the Mario Kart Theory of Talent: every vehicle has a chance of winning the race, as long as you operate the vehicle according to its jagged profile.
— American scientist Todd Rose, Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment

MAYPAJO, Caloocan City — The daughter of former president Rodrigo 'Rody' Duterte (FPRRD), Vice President 'Inday' Sara Duterte-Carpio, has laid down her cards, saying she'll be running for the country's top post come 2028 in May.
VP Sara formally announced her intention to run for the presidency almost 800 days before the May 2028 national elections. In her announcement, she asked forgiveness for the perceived failings of her erstwhile running mate, Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., who won by a landslide in the May 2022 polls.
Inday Sara's announcement came amid four impeachment complaints filed against her in the House of Representatives.
I'm sure that most of us would recall that prior to the campaign period for the May 2022 elections, a Pulse Asia survey conducted from February 22 to March 2, 2021, showed PRRD's daughter leading with a 27-percent voter preference rating, compared with PBBM's 13 percent and former lady senator Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares’s 12 percent.
Despite her strong rating, Sara decided to yield to Marcos and run as his vice president due to her youth, funding and logistical issues, as well as prodding from her BFF (best friend forever) Sen. Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios 'Imee' Marcos-Manotoc.
The timing of Duterte’s announcement made the embattled Marcos administration even more 'distressed', since it poured gasoline into the political fire engulfing the nation today with the flood-control corruption scandal and the ensuing mass protests.
However, the impeachment complaints against the vice president also put her presidential bid in the limelight—for better or worse—with accusations ranging from the embezzlement of intelligence funds and her death threats to the Marcos family, to alleged mismanagement during her stint as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).
But public opinion is often strange. Last year's Pulse Asia survey from December 12 to 15, placed Sara’s approval rating at 56 percent, much higher than President Marcos’ 34 percent. The political unrest has shored up a shift toward Duterte. She retains solid grassroots support in the Visayas and Mindanao, owed largely to the political capital built by her populist and well-adored father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Aside from wealthy donors open to bankrolling her campaign, Sara Duterte will be bolstered by the Chinese government amid the great rivalry among global powers intensifying in the region.
Yet, in the country’s political history, most presidential candidates who declared early bids tend to fizzle out before election day, with the notable exception of then-senator Joseph 'Erap' Estrada, who turned an earlier campaign into a landslide victory in 1998.
Still, to be fair to her, Sara Duterte’s context is entirely different from six or even 28 years ago. Her political star continues to soar as the Marcos administration continues to be besieged by widespread corruption, bureaucratic ineptitude and highly publicized heinous crimes.

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