FEBRUA PY 21, 2019
That was a presci-ntmo-e As nationai paities
FIRST PERSON
ALEX MAGNO
Sara
(\-,r/
A. f course. Sara Duterte-
lt#;1;;h""ti';;
poriiut" contenders for
lhe 2022 presidential elections.
At the moment, in fact, she is the
only one on this privileged list.
In the space of less than a year.
Sara's political standing zoomed
up quickly. She is no longer seen
as a local executive. She has be-
come a national political force.
We do not know if she plotted that spectacular
rise from her Davao redoubt. But her moves -were
precise, innovative and devastating.
It a1l began when she tangled with former House
speaker Pantaleon Alvarez after the latier described
her effort to build a regional parry as a form of be-
trayal against the ruling PDP-Laban. Then Alvarez
was quoted in a local paper boasting he'had the
power impeach President Rodrigo Duterte.
- Saratonot bnlv hit back at those remarls, she
helped the diveise factions in the House to 8et to-
gether and oust Alvarez. The erstwhile imperious
leader of the House was summarily deposed. None
of the power and pelf he loved to tout was a match
for the woman scorned.
We knew of Sara a few years back when televi-
sion footage showed the lady mayor punching a
locai sheriff who imDlemented a demolition order
she asked to be put on hold. We were all startled
by the audacity of it all. If her father had built a
reputation for toughness on the iob, she showed
trs all she could be even better.
' Even President Duterte finds every occasion to
mention that there is only one person who manages
to intimidate him: his daughter.
We next noticed Sara after she publicly argued
with her father, trying to dissuade him from seek-
ing the presideniy. She complained that he did
no1 have the organization or the funds for such
an adventure. But when ardent Duterte support-
ers shave their heads to convince him to rurL Sara
shaved her head as well.
She clearly has her father's genes. As a politi-
cal personality, she is tough and colorful in equal
parts. But she is easier on the eye and articulate
enough to avoid resorting to cuss words to convey
her thoughts.
After the uprising at the House of RePresenta-
tives, Sara went about formalizing the alliances that
formed for that enterprise. She had been building
Hugpong ng Pagbabago as a "regional party." But
that organization has become a springboard to reach
out and forge alliarces with other regional groups.
\\
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decline, local political organizations become more
effective. Local parties are often anchored on en-
trenched politicil clans. They are simultaneously a
blast froni the past as well as the wind of the future.
For the midierm elections, HuSPong ng Pagba-
bago is more than iust a "regional Party." It is the
core of a potent alliance oI local parties stretching
from Northern Luzon to Southern Mindanao.
While the "ruling party" PDP-Laban could
not muster enough &ndldates to compose a full
senatorial s1ate, Hugpong is fielding 13 candidates
for 12 senatorial seats at stake. Until Harry Roque
pulled out his candidacv because of health jssues,
hugoone had 14 candidates for 12 seats.
I"aln n6t sure ho* Sara worked oul the arithmetic
to decide on fielding more than a full slate of sena-
torial aspixants. What is clear is that the flexibility
enabled Sara's "regional Party" to strin€ together
a potent national neiwork composed of a score of
local/national parties.
Most, if not;ll, of the parties allied with Hug-
pong will dominaie the forthcoming local elections
These parties are, after all, formed around dominant
political clans that exercise effective control over
the areas they encompass.
There are i few areas where rival factions both
belong to the Hugpong alliance. Effectively, Hug-
pong idds to its ranks regardless of whoever wins
in local contests.
Hugpong is not as hamstrung as a "ruling politi
cal pa{y" wouldbe. It need not settle local disputes-
It need'not pledge candidates to a single political
platform. By being shapeless and form)ess, this al-
Iiance manages to include everybody.
No one else but Sara could Put together a coali-
tion as broad as this one, working independent of
her father but surely under the aegis ofhis immense
DoDularitv. No one else but Sara could benefit from
ihti onlv eifiectiue nationwide alliance there is.
Observe the news coverage of the HugPong pro-
vincial sorties. At nearly every instance, a huge ta-rp
provides the backdrop for the senatorial aspirants.
in those tarps, the likeness of Sara Duterte looms
larger than any other candidate.
she also atiacts more attention than any other
candidate. After the Ilocos Norte sortie, Sara
boarded her big bike and motored all the way to
Isabeia province for the next rally. This is leally
her campaign.
She his tiaken to campaign trail with much en-
thusiasm and much energy. She is the eye of the
Dolitical storm that will define the course of our
llectoral politics not only for the midterm elections
but. mori important, for the crucial Presidential
elections of 2022.
Sara says she will decide on a presidential run
in January 2021. That was the lead chosen by most
media coverage of whai she said.
The real sto1y, however, is ihat she did not deny
the possibility of seeking the highest elective Post
of tlre land. i{ her fathei's popularity holds, and
with the Dolitical alliance she has formed, the 2022
nresideniial race is hers to lose- There is no other
iising political stat on the horizon.
Saii is smart aJ.she is determined.