EDITORIAL
Contrary to the image Vice President Sara Duterte is trying to project that she is totally naïve when it comes to national politics, she is indeed the opposite – cunning and shrewd.
In 2019, she organized her own political party, though described to be local in nature, but fielded candidates for national positions – 14 senatorial candidates when only 12 seats were being contested.
In 2022, with the Uniteam coming up one senatorial candidate short for the twelve slots, Sara again brought her own busload of senatoriables totaling to seven, bringing to eighteen the number of senatorial candidates she was endorsing then.
While the 2019 case was her own call, with all the candidates under her team having no one to blame but her once two of the candidates have been dumped in her official sample ballot, 2022 was different.
It was an open defiance of the Uniteam declaration. She even tagged Robin Padilla in UniTeam’s sorties, claiming he was already a part of their senatorial ticket, something which President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. denied then.
And what exactly could be her agenda? By fielding a number of candidates more than the slots available, Sara, it seems was not actually concerned on who among her team would emerge victorious. What she was really after was the amount of support these people could generate for her.
And she got what she was hoping for. With 18 senatorial candidates in row, Sara garnered 32,208,417 votes – 578,634 votes more than Marcos who got 31,629,783 despite having only 11 senatorial candidates throwing their support for him.
And now, there are the numbers being used by Sara’s supporters in claiming she’s more deserving of the top spot than Marcos. That appears to be the grand design from the start.
And Sara – she was already salivating for the presidential post since Day One.
When Marcos embarked on his first state visit, he designated Sara as OIC even if he was only going to Singapore that time. And given the technology, there would be no need to appoint an OIC as orders can easily be handed out.
However, Sara, drooling over the powers of the presidency, immediately called for a command conference involving the country’s top military leaders. It was a clear usurpation of power. She is not the commander-in-chief but a mere OIC tasked with overseeing regular office affairs and was accorded the title out of mere courtesy.
Anyway, a lot has happened since. Sara has resigned from her post as Education secretary and has declared she is no longer interested in a national post. It would be her brother, Baste who would be seeking the presidency in 2028.
Again, another calculated but cunning move. Sara is openly endorsing her brother for 2028 not because he is really running but just to get of the line of fire and avoid suffering the same fate as those of former Senate President Manny Villar and Vice President Jojo Binay, whose early declaration opened to early attacks from their political opponents, costing their chances in the 2010 and 2016 national polls respectively.
By endorsing Baste for 2028, she is as if asking him to take the hit for her while shielding herself from political diatribes that would naturally come with the territory.
However, ever hungry for the limelight, she has again exposed herself in the open, this time playing a joke on the President’s forthcoming SONA, declaring she won’t be attending as she has appointed herself as the designated survivor.
Designated survivor for what? This could be bordering on treason. Is that a threat to the President’s life or future as the country’s Chief Executive?
If that’s a joke, no one’s laughing. But one thing for sure. The backlash might be unbearable for her. The joke could be actually on her.
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