Vice President Sara Duterte has endorsed reelectionist Senator Imee Marcos, who remained lagging in pre-election surveys a month before the May 12, 2025 midterm polls.

Vice President Sara Duterte is featured in the latest campaign video of reelectionist Senator Imee Marcos. (Screengrab from Senator Imee R. Marcos Facebook page)
Clad in an all-black, rocker chic ensemble, the duo appeared in a new campaign ad, which stated that it was paid for by the senator and presidential sister.
“Itim ngayon ang kulay ng bansa sa gutom at krimen. Nagluluksa. Gutom na ang sikmura, gutom pa sa hustisya. Ginigipit ang hindi ka-alyansa (Black is the color of the country because of hunger and crimes. It’s in mourning. There’s hunger in the stomach and hunger for justice. Those who are not allies are being harassed),” the duo said in the video.
The last part, delivered by the senator, seemed to allude to the administration’s and her brother’s Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas.
The video’s overall theme “ITIM” was also given a new meaning—“Ipaglalaban Tayo ni Imee Marcos (Imee Marcos will fight for us).”
The ad was also posted with the caption, “Inday (Sara) Trusts Imee Marcos.”
As the two officials were shown on the ad’s foreground, videos of Marcos holding Senate inquiries, as well as scenes of poverty and crimes, flash in the background.
Duterte’s endorsement of Marcos came after she left President Marcos’ Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate after the arrest and surrender to The Hague of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
But the Vice President’s endorsement may be seen as a contradiction to the opinion of the Duterte camp, particularly her father’s former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo and common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña.
Avanceña dismissed Senator Marcos’ hearing into the former president’s arrest as chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, saying that she doesn’t believe the presidential sister.