What fate awaits the Dutertes?

Former president Rodrigo Duterte warned the public about messing with his daughter, Sara Duterte, in a speech before a gathering of businessmen in October 2018. Five months later in March 2019, he told a gathering of barangay officials that “Inday is worse than me,” referring to his daughter. Duterte disclosed that he “could not control his daughter” as she was “really hard to deal with.”

In January 2024, self-confessed Davao Death Squad assassin Arturo Lascañas told the media that he submitted a 186-page affidavit to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which he said contains information on the involvement of VP Sara in the extrajudicial killings in Davao City. Lascañas disclosed that it was the Vice President who initiated “Oplan Tokhang” when she was Davao City mayor in 2012, and she did so in tandem with Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who was then the city police chief. Lascañas also revealed that the total number of extrajudicial killings in Davao City is more or less 10,000. Lascañas then called on President Marcos to be careful and not to trust the Duterte father and daughter whom he branded as “traitors.”

Just a month ago on Oct. 18, 2024, VP Sara threatened to dig up the remains of Mr. Marcos’ dictator father and throw them into the sea. She revealed that she “imagined herself cutting off his head,” referring to the President.

And then last Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, VP Sara went on a verbal rampage, disclosing that she gave orders that, in the event she is killed, an assassin she hired would kill Mr. Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

If Duterte’s personality is an indication of the temperament inherited and grown into by his children, then intemperate words are followed through with dreadful deeds. Verbal threats made by the Dutertes are figuratively the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface lies colossal rage raring to emerge as a monstrosity of wrongful conduct.

At his final campaign rally for the presidency in May 2016, Duterte gave advance warning to the nation when he said: “Forget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, hold-up men and do-nothings, you better go out. Because I’d kill you. I’ll dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there.” After he assumed the presidency, Duterte transformed his words into bloody deeds and 30,000 lives of mere drug suspects, mistaken identities, palit-ulo victims, collateral fatalities, and casualties of brazen rubouts by police rascals, were lost.

Now comes Mr. Duterte’s daughter—whom he describes as a worse version of him—verbalizing vile intent. We can strongly sense wrath wanting to be transformed into deeds.

There’s now a crescendo of talks that, in addition to criminal charges, VP Sara will face impeachment. If successful, she will not only be removed as vice president, but will be permanently disqualified from any public post. That will obliterate the Dutertes’ chances of regaining the presidency in 2028. The specter of impeachment gives the Dutertes critical reasons to obsess on ousting the Marcoses, by fair or foul means. It will fast-track their return to Malacañang because VP Sara will succeed as president. Once they manage to get a backdoor reentry to Malacañang before 2028, it will be a cinch for them to extend their reign for six more years until 2034. Also, the removal of the Marcoses will ensure their political survival, which is now facing an existential threat. Even Duterte is now openly calling on the military to launch a coup d’état to oust Mr. Marcos.

Will all these result in the conviction and imprisonment of Duterte and VP Sara via domestic prosecution? Fat chance. All these efforts will only be used to deflate the ambitions of the Dutertes and cut them back to size as political pygmies. The only objective is to preserve and lengthen the reign of the Marcoses and their chosen successors. Once this is ensured, the Dutertes will be set free. Our country’s political elite are too cliquish and clannish to allow the permanent punishment of one of their own. We have repeatedly seen this in the fates of Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla, among others. The Marcoses owe the Dutertes big time because of their patriarch’s entombment in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, and the huge political capital loaned by the Dutertes to the Marcoses that proved pivotal in their reconquest of Malacañang. There’s humongous utang na loob to repay. Besides, the Dutertes can use their command votes as currency to buy their freedom from succeeding administrations, because they will be useful as co-opted political deputies in southern Philippines.

In the end, it will only be the drug war lieutenants, the education secretary’s alter egos, and the vice president’s gofers, who will fall by the sword.

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