Sara Duterte fights destructive politics
PRESIDENTIAL daughter Sara Duterte the other day launched a new movement aimed at countering “destructive politicking” in the Philippines. It couldn’t have come at a better time.
Nationalism is undergoing a revival in the country and the multisectoral group “Tapang at Malasakit” (courage and compassion) Alliance for the Philippines aims to harness this patriotic spirit to build better communities and local governments. It fills in a lacuna in our socio-political culture, the lack of a strong sense of civic responsibility among Filipino citizens.
Duterte, who is also the mayor of Davao City, in her remarks during the launch lamented the rise of negative political partisanship that is seeing Filipinos pitted against other Filipinos, brandishing political colors of either “red, yellow, or white.”
“Iisa lang naman tayo – Filipino,” Sara Duterte said. She spoke with simple earnestness. In her words and tone one heard echoes of President Rodrigo Duterte, whose own old-fashioned nationalism endeared him to millions of Filipino voters and propelled him to the presidency.
The timing is also apt as there are political groups – whose power and influence have waned – who are using foreign entities and the media to try to bring down the government. With Duterte’s high approval rating (80 percent based on latest Pulse Asia survey), they couldn’t get any headway in the country thus the need to go “international” to further their political agenda.
The most prominent personality to be accused of going abroad to allegedly destabilize the country is Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. He met with fellow Duterte critic US Senator Marco Rubio, who himself has been accused by the Venezuelan government of conspiring with the Central Intelligence Agency to topple its leaders and replace them with more pro-American leaders.
Both Trillanes and Rubio are critical of Duterte’s war against illegal drugs. Both, too, claimed that all they talked about was the US-Philippines alliance, corruption, and human rights. But Duterte’s supporters in social media accused Trillanes of treason and betrayal of country. Malacañang said it will be up to the Department of Justice to decide on this legal matter.
Sara Duterte has also been very active in social media in defending her father against the tirades of Trillanes, which ranged from charges of murder to hidden wealth. None has been proven. But Sara in her Facebook posts has revealed potentially damaging details – politically, at least – about how Trillanes and other “yellow” politicians such as Senator Francis Pangilinan and Risa Hontiveros sought the help of Duterte, and also her own help, when they ran for the elections.
“Just asking, when you asked help from my father, was there an issue with his governance? None. Now that he won, you’re criticizing him,” she said in her Facebook post. She also accused the three of harboring presidential ambitions. “I grew up in politics; I can smell ambition a million miles away.”
But during the launch of the “Tapang at Malasakit” Alliance the Davao mayor was more circumspect and diplomatic, saying that she believes in dissent as it is an important aspect of a democratic country. She said she even disagrees often with her father, the president, noting, “There’s democracy in our house.”
There’s a difference however in the recent attacks against Duterte and the Philippine government. “It is a different matter altogether if you lie just to oppose. If you paint a sad and hopeless Philippines abroad, and the country’s reputation is being destroyed, that’s already wrong,” Duterte said.
It remains to be seen how far Sara can bring this new movement and whether it can indeed trigger changes in Filipinos – not exactly known to be “joiners” – who would move mountains for their families but not for their communities.
The group’s objectives are laudable indeed, such as encouraging volunteerism to help communities, promoting public service among its members, and in general working to eliminate poverty and usher in a more progressive Philippines.
Sara Duterte’s organizational skills will be put to the fore in this multisectoral group that has already listed 75 groups as members. She said even anti-Duterte groups can join the alliance but they should bring in “positive” work. “We can disagree but not be disagreeable,” Duterte said.