Sara Duterte: The Apple That Didn’t Fall Far From The Tree

The first president of the Commonwealth government and the father of the Philippine national language, Manuel L. Quezon, once exclaimed in his 1939 civil liberty speech, “I would rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by Americans.”

Yet, looking at today’s political scene, Quezon’s words seem almost prophetic in an unintended way, as the Philippines faces a political landscape rife with scandal, corruption, and lack of accountability. In 2024 alone, the Philippines witnessed (1) a Chinese foreigner named Alice Guo involved in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) while serving as the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, (2) self-confessed “son of God” Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, a child sex trafficker and registered sex offender using his connections with close friend and former president Rodrigo Duterte to evade arrest, and (3) Vice President Sara Duterte threatening to hire an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualez if she is found dead. The latter has led to three impeachment complaints against the Vice President as of December 23, 2024.

In times like these, you have to wonder where the dignity of being a politician has gone, as the position of a public servant, which was once held in high regard, has now become a means to fulfill personal vendettas, power grabs, and evasion of accountability. 

These systemic problems were highlighted in Sara Duterte’s press conferences, where instead of addressing the claims made against her as former Department of Education (DepEd) secretary, she turned the conference into a theatrical display of personal grievances that mirrors what you’ll find in a typical telenovela. During the conference, she not only threatened to exhume the corpse of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. from the Libingan ng mga Bayani and throw it into the West Philippine Sea but repeatedly slandered the Marcos name. 

However, unlike a telenovela, where you’d be laughing from the bickering of the overdramatic characters, here you’re frightened by what’s transpiring right in front of you. As egregious as her attitude was, it was not only unnecessary to bring up these conflicts with your former running mate to the public but also a representation of her office’s character and professionalism, or lack thereof. It trivializes her position as vice president and shifts her focus away from serving the public good to engaging in petty squabbles that serve only to distract us from solving systemic issues. And, come to think of it, “fighting with other politicians” isn’t one of the duties of politicians, especially that of the vice president. 

Nevertheless, Duterte wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place had she not been embroiled in scandal after scandal as vice president and the secretary of the DepEd. Whether it was the misuse of funds and blatant corruption through money hidden in envelopes as the DepEd secretary or her recent attempts to block an investigation into the Office of the Vice President’s use of funds, Duterte’s actions reflect how politicians no longer feel the weight of responsibility and respect to the institution that their positions demand, leading them to commit illegal activities. 

Duterte’s own words reveal this troubling mindset. In a past press conference, she commented that she doesn’t regret running for vice president since if she was elected mayor, she would likely be behind bars now. This brazen statement shows how some view public office not as a position of service but as a shield from accountability. The fact that someone holding the second-highest office in the land would publicly admit that the possibility of evading arrest influenced their decision to run shows just how far the standards of governance have fallen.

This rise of impunity, where public officials feel untouchable, results from a broken system that has lost sight of accountability. The sanctity of political office and the idea that serving in government is a privilege and not merely an obligation has eroded to the point where positions of power are viewed as tools for self-preservation rather than public service. The ongoing scandal with Vice President Duterte underscores this issue. Despite calls for her to address concerns about the OVP’s budget, Duterte has dismissed these inquiries as politically motivated attacks, refusing to submit to the scrutiny that her position demands. Additionally, her refusal to answer any questions during the House probe into her requested OVP funds only deepens the public’s distrust of government institutions. 

Unfortunately, the vice president's attitude toward public service only normalizes and sets the precedent that politicians are no longer bound by the values they once swore to uphold. This erosion of accountability continues to plague the country because we seem to have learned very little from our history, forgetting, for instance, the Hello, Garci scandal involving former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2005.

As we approach another election season, we must ask ourselves how many more Arroyos, Estradas, or Dutertes we want in politics. If the answer to this question is none, then true change must begin with us demanding more from our leaders and more from ourselves as voters. Despite this, many Filipinos still elect self-serving politicians without properly researching. Though the fight for our democracy has already been hard-won, the victory is in vain if the responsibilities that come with the privilege are neglected.

However, there will always be a chance for us to reverse these mistakes. Continuing what he said, many forget that Quezon added,  “Because however bad a Filipino government might be, we can always change it.” This means that regardless of the state our political scene may be in, our democracy gives us the power to elect leaders who prioritize the best for the nation and, in turn, use this power as a force for good to change the status quo. History is repeating itself, and until we take this notion seriously, we are doomed to suffer the consequences of our collective complacency.