Sarah Duterte’s image is as down-to-earth as her father’s in a rustic where tough guys thrive: she once punched a court official who challenged her; rides large motorcycles; her children are named Sharkie, Stingray and Stonefish.
Sara Duterte, nonetheless, said she had thought it over rigorously and decided to not try to expand her political dynasty into the presidency after succeeding her father as mayor of Davao within the south.
“I created a table of ‘why’ and ‘why not’ before I made a decision to not run,” she said, adding that she didn’t even tell her father the explanation.
This didn’t stop the campaign. Posters, banners, stickers, T-shirts and calendars with a picture of a younger Duterte and the words “Run, Sara, Run” appeared across the archipelago of 108 million people. Her supporters say she has nothing to do with the campaigns.
“Run, Sara, run” calls have increased amongst thousands and thousands of Filipinos abroad, who constitute a key support base for Duterte.
On March 28 in Cebu City, over 500 motorcycles joined a convoy of participants within the “Sara Duterte for President Movement” to steer the elder Duterte to induce her to run.
“I thank them all for their trust and confidence,” she said. “Not everyone desires to be president.”
Ramon Casiple, political analyst and vice chairman of consulting and research firm Novo Trends PH, said signs proceed to point to a probable Sara Duterte candidacy, mirroring the way in which her father’s last-minute bid energized his 2016 campaign.
“You’re talking about the same set of tactics,” Casiple said.
Like her father, Sara Duterte was a lawyer by career before joining politics. In 2010, she became mayor of Davao, a city of over 1.6 million inhabitants positioned 1,000 km from Manila.
The victory could help shield her father from potential legal challenges in a rustic where the lack of official immunity often opens the door to political vendettas, political analysts say. Duterte also faces possible international motion over his bloody war on drugs.
“No one can protect Duterte better than her,” said Carlos Conde, a Filipino researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.
Sara Duterte, like her father, has a status for being tough. She has openly exchanged comments with the president, but few doubt her loyalty.
Last yr, during her confirmation as a reserve colonel, a senator asked her why the president repeatedly said he was afraid of her.
“It’s just his thought,” said Sara Duterte, wearing crew cut and official military uniform. “I always supported him.”
Continuity would even be welcomed by bureaucrats and tycoons who’ve thrived under Duterte, said Earl Parreno, writer of a Duterte biography titled Beyond will and power. Another query is whether or not Sara Duterte will keep on with her father’s policies.
Sara Duterte showed her independence about three years ago when she united political factions to remove certainly one of the president’s allies as speaker of the lower house.
She was not as outspoken in regards to the bloody drug war that has been a focus of the Duterte administration, but said prevention and rehabilitation must be a part of anti-drug policy, while adding that “law enforcement should respond quickly.”
She was also not as near China as her father – whose close ties to Beijing had shaken the normal alliance with the US and an internal security establishment with close ties to the US.
In 2020, Sara Duterte visited the US as a part of a leadership training event sponsored by the Department of State.
“We should be an observer in the China-US dispute,” she said. “We should gather friends beyond these two, so that if one turns on us, there will still be nine of us. And if they both forget about us, there will be eight of us left. And if eight of us leave, we should be left alone.”
