Vice President Sara Duterte said she would rather be “single and ready to mingle in politics” than be tied down to a political party, such as her father’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

With Senator Robin Padilla taking a leave from his duties as president of PDP-Laban, Duterte’s brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, will occupy the position.

But even then, the Vice President is not keen to joining the once ruling party because she has learned her lesson the hard way.

In fact, this is not the first time she was being invited to be a member of PDP-Laban, she said, noting that her father has invited her when she resigned from the Marcos administration’s Cabinet last year.

“Pero hanggang ngayon, wala pa akong decision, ma’am. Mainly because nakita niyo naman ‘yung nangyari sa akin, ma’am, di ba ‘no? Parang ayaw ko nang kausap ‘yung mga politiko— lalong-lalo na kapag magkakasama kami sa isang grupo (Until now, I do not have a decision, ma’am. Mainly because you saw what happened to me, ma’am, right? I don’t want to deal with politicians—especially if we’re within one group),” Duterte told reporters during a press conference in Davao City on Monday, June 16.

While she did not mention her once rosy alliance with President Marcos, the Vice President’s ties with the Marcos administration soured and collapsed in less than two years after their landslide victory in the 2022 elections.

“So wala naman (it’s nothing), I have nothing against everyone. In general lang, sa akin, mas gusto ko yung ganito ako. ‘Yung sinasabi ko lagi na (for me, I like it better this way. It’s what I always say), ‘I’m single and ready to mingle,’ in terms of politics, kaysa ‘yung nakatali ka sa loob ng isang grupo (instead of being tied inside one group),” she added.

In 2022, Duterte ran as a nominee of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) under the UniTeam alliance with President Marcos.

Lakas-CMD is the political party of her present political arch nemesis, Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin. She resigned from the party in May 2023, a year after their 2022 win, due to the conflict between Romualdez and her mentor, former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.

In 2025, while she was not a member of any political party, the Vice President endorsed former president Rodrigo Duterte’s PDP-Laban senatorial candidates or better known as “DuterTen.” Senator Imee Marcos and Senator-elect Camille Villar also received her endorsement outside of her father’s bets.