Former Philippine vice-president Leni Robredo’s refusal to seek national office in 2028 has intensified the search for someone to unite the country’s fractured opposition against an early presidential bid by Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Robredo, President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s strongest rival in the 2022 election and long seen as the opposition’s most recognisable figure, said she would not run for any state position when Marcos’ six-year term ends.

Her decision shifts attention to a thin bench of possible alternatives – including senators Risa Hontiveros, Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan – and to whether any of them can turn anti-Duterte sentiment into a broader governing coalition.

In an interview with a local radio station on Monday, Robredo said she was “certain” about not running, adding that a return to national politics was “not in my horizon”.

Now serving as mayor of her hometown, Naga City, after a landslide win last year, she planned to seek a second term as “three years is too short” to accomplish her plans.

Robredo also pushed back against the idea that the opposition’s future depended on her alone, saying Filipinos should move away from the search for “one saviour” in politics.