ALEX ALAGON

VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte boldly announced her plan to run for President of the Philippines come 2028 national elections.

Her announcement the other day was met with mixed reactions. Some political analysts call her move “strategic.” Given the present situation that the VP is into these days, her announcement could have been done after thorough consultation with her political, legal, and moral advisers.

But we are certain that the go-signal to make the announcement has only this objective. That is, to temper the heat that is brought about by the filing of four impeachment cases against the VP.

Clearly, the announcement gives Sara more ammunition to counter the impeachment cases even before these are referred to the House Justice Committee and later to the plenary for determination whether any of the four will be transmitted to the Senate for trial.

And why are we saying the VP’s announcement is giving her a thicker shield against her impeachment? Simple. She can strengthen to the maximum her claim of political harassment with any attempt of the accusers to have the complaint forwarded to the House Justice Committee.

And once the same is taken up by the plenary and forwarded to the Senate for trial the VP’s camp can shout to the heavens that the administration, using the Senate, is out to shut her out of the 2028 Presidential polls.

Her camp will exploit to the maximum the impeachment issue to gain the people’s sympathy thereby creating the image of the persecuted Vice President.

And if VP Sara gets exonerated by the Senate acting as the trial court – which is possible considering the present alignment – all the more that her candidacy gets a huge boost.

But of course her potential rivals, not necessarily the one backed by the administration, are not giving their minds a break in thinking of ways to shoot down any perceived advantage of the Vice President. And two years from now to 2028 still allow for a number of things to happen to shift the political balance.

Nonetheless, the message of the adage, “Early bird catches the worm” definitely still holds.

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In a social media post, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who is detained in a jail of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, is imploring the Filipinos to support her daughter Vice President Sara when she will be a candidate for President of the Philippines in 2028.

According to the Davaoeño former Philippine leader, his daughter is the only one who can save the Philippines from its destruction done by the present administration.

Based on the former leader’s claim, it appeared that the situation of the country is so serious that only by changing the incumbent President or rejecting whoever he endorses, the country be able to get back on its feet.

On the other hand, the former leader said in his post that even if he gets the opportunity to secure freedom, he will not go home to the Philippines while the country is still under the present administration. He said he fears for his life.

Of course, we would not be surprised if the former President believes it is VP Sara only who can “save” the country. After all, what is the former President a father for the VP?

Meanwhile, we still do not have any idea what the incumbent President FPRRD called “weak,” and his administration have done to any of his detractors – political enemies or journalists, or businessmen. So far we could not recall of any reported killed, maimed, or deprived of their rights to do business in the country.

The only ones we know who are in hiding are former Presidential spokesman Harry Roque and former Bureau of Jail Management head General Gerard Bantag.

VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte, in a recent statement, issued a public apology for her role in helping President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. win the presidency in the May 2022 election.

VP Sara was, without doubt, referring to her having run as Marcos, Jr.’s tandem in the UniTeam. We believe that the second-highest official of the land thought that it was her more than 31 million votes that carried Marcos, Jr. to the Presidency. But was it really?

It may be recalled that Sara was rumored to be eyeing the Presidency in 2022 and that many were frustrated when she filed her candidacy as a re-electionist candidate for mayor of Davao City. But personally, at that time our take was that she was biding her time in order to reassess her chances if she was to run for President.

She was also then weighing it over if she’d settle for the Vice Presidency and with whom she should run, so she would have greater chances of winning.

It was also our view then that Marcos, Jr. might have read what was in the mind of the then Davao City Mayor. That is, in the race to the Presidency she had to contend with big-name rivals. And in the Vice Presidential contest, the other contenders were relatively easier for her to beat.

So, Sara finally opted for the Vice Presidency, teaming up with Marcos Jr., who has a bigger political base in both the Ilocos Region and Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas, as well as in Metro Manila.

But did the VP’s teaming up with BBM help the latter win the Presidency, given that the vote advantage of the two against their rivals was exceptionally high? This question can only be accurately answered if anyone takes the tedious review of the votes gathered by the Vice President and Marcos, Jr. in the records of the Commission on Elections.

It is from the votes in each region gathered by the two top-tanking Philippine officials that can determine who helped whom – whether it is the VP helping the President, or the President helping his tandem.

Say, if in the Luzon regions, including MIMAROPA, PBBM carried Sara, so it was then candidate Marcos, Jr. who helped the VP. If in the entire Mindanao Island and the Central Visayas, both known as Sara’s bailiwicks, Marcos lagged behind the VP in votes, then the VP’s claim of securing for BBM the Presidency is a bit questionable.

But again, the Vice President appears fully convinced it was she who helped Marcos, Jr. win the Presidency. And she thinks that in helping him, she was largely responsible for installing a failed Presidency, so she feels it is her moral obligation to the Filipino people to apologize for her “wrong” decision.

The question, however, is whether or not the majority of the Filipinos – from the ordinary man on the streets up to those who are in the highest echelon of society – see the present government of the Philippines as the VP sees it – a non-performing President whose governance is without clear direction?

So far, the signs obtained are not exactly what is painted by the government detractors like VP Sara. Still, there have been no massive multi-sectoral rallies chastising the administration. The biggest that we have witnessed was the one initiated by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). But the religious group leaders organizing the rally made it clear that the rallyists were not demanding the ouster of the President but merely bringing to his attention the corruption happening in the government.

Even the much-ballyhooed “Trillion Pesos” mass actions did not end up as expected by the organizers, most of whom were groups allied with the administration critics. Even retired and active members of the military who were creating noise failed in their attempt to convince the men in uniform to withdraw support from the Commander-in-Chief.

Leaders of industry and big businesses appeared content with the administration’s policies. So is the labor sector.

Of course, we may be wrong in our personal appreciation of the country’s prevailing situation. The Vice President may be right.

But then, in painting a morbid picture of the country’s present condition under Marcos Jr., she has a strong personal motive. She is herself aiming for the Presidency in 2028. And by describing the present state of governance as wanting in direction and bringing the country to perdition, the VP is in the process of destroying whoever the President will field to succeed him.

So the VP is on with her ”offensive” much ahead of the official start of the electoral season in 2028. And apologizing to the Filipinos for helping install the incumbent President is one such offensive action.