[Pastilan] We’ve seen a presidential forerunner crushed by corruption points earlier than

A blind boxer can not evade the implications of miscalculations. Sara Duterte might quickly discover out that historical past is ready within the shadows, able to land the punch she can not see coming.

Joyful new yr!

The December 2025 surveys ship a actuality verify no politician can ignore. In Mindanao, Vice President Sara Duterte, scion of the entrenched Duterte dynasty, continues to get pleasure from scores which are extraordinary — many of the Mindanao respondents approve and belief her. 

In the meantime, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., inheritor to the equipment of a late dictator, fares far worse within the Southern Philippines. In Mindanao, his belief and approval scores lag behind Duterte’s. Geography, historical past, and household legacy form notion with a precision no marketing campaign slogan can hope to match.

The distinction between Luzon and Mindanao is pronounced. Marcos Jr. posts his strongest figures in Luzon, whereas Duterte guidelines within the Visayas and Mindanao. Throughout the archipelago, individuals seem to differentiate dynasties greater than insurance policies: the Marcos identify retains some weight within the north, whereas the Duterte model instructions loyalty within the south that borders on intuition.

Mindanao’s near-unanimous embrace of Duterte exhibits a basic fact in Filipino politics: dynastic loyalty typically outweighs nationwide workplace, particularly when paired with native identification, efficient patronage, and cultural affinity. Marcos Jr., regardless of holding the very best workplace, is distrusted throughout the Visayas and Mindanao, whereas in the remainder of Luzon, his approval is modestly constructive.

And so, the Philippines stays a rustic the place regionalism, dynastic historical past, and governance scandals form public notion greater than rhetoric or nationalism. The Dutertes’ dominance of Mindanao is not any accident. It’s the product of years of native embedding.

The Marcos dynasty faces the lengthy shadow of its previous and a citizenry more and more cautious of centralized authority. To disregard that is to misconceive the geography of discontent and the perilous calculus of management within the archipelago.

Positive winner?

So, is Sara Duterte a certain winner within the 2028 presidential race? Not so quick.

To name her 2028 ascension inevitable is to bask in a seductive presumption. The general public might detest Marcos Jr., and rightly so, for his administration swims in corruption and he bears full command duty.

But Marcos Jr. is just not operating in 2028. He has already gained, courtesy of Sara’s wholehearted assist in 2022. She delivered the Marcoses again to Malacañang and now treats him like he’s going to be her rival. He’s not.

The imagined dynastic duel is laughable. Bongbong Marcos and Inday Sara have been the UniTeam of 2022, a workforce that promised unity however delivered chaos. They’re the identical banana, birds of the identical feather, who formally stopped “feathering” one another in 2024.

On this context, Sara Duterte is a blind boxer within the political ring. Gloves up, circling, swinging with confidence born of dynasty, native loyalty, and the ecstatic applause of Mindanao, she lands punches on shadows. She imagines a rival, but the person she sees has already gained the battle she helped stage. She introduced him again to Malacañang; now she pummels a ghost. The absurdity is scrumptious.

In the meantime, the true threats to her ambitions linger patiently. She faces a plunder criticism and an impeachment criticism looms on the horizon — all of it waits like an unrelenting referee able to ring the bell. She has danced round questions on her use of public funds for a while now, however even the nimblest footwork can not escape historical past’s reminiscence. Sooner or later, the taxpayers will demand justice, and no applause, no native adoration, will defend her.

Mindanao adores her; Luzon tolerates her; the Visayas watches carefully, supportive however measured. Marcos Jr., although occupying the very best workplace within the land, is distrusted virtually in all places else. But in her creativeness, the battle is a dynastic duel between the Dutertes and Marcoses. Once more, it isn’t. 

Historical past presents its warnings within the case of former vice chairman Jejomar Binay who, like Sara, had been seen as a certain winner within the 2016 presidential elections. However he misplaced — he was crushed black and blue within the elections by Sara’s father, Rodrigo, somebody who was not even seen as a political heavyweight a yr or months earlier than the 2016 elections.

Corruption points relentlessly hounded Binay’s try on the presidency. Binay soared within the polls till corruption scandals dragged him right into a downward spiral beginning within the latter a part of 2015.

The snowballing anti-corruption motion could also be unwittingly making ready Sara’s actual enemy — a non-heavyweight who may ship the Okay.O. punch identical to in 2016. Each exposé and each protest sharpen the general public’s eye. By spotlighting graft and demanding accountability, the motion trains voters to scrutinize dynastic privilege and query using public funds.

Sara’s true adversary would be the woke up citizens itself, primed to see by means of appearances, to attach the dots, and to punish complacency. Each moralistic drumbeat at the moment might turn into a hammer tomorrow, placing down the illusions of inevitability she so depends on. 

Ultimately, a blind boxer can not evade the implications of miscalculations. Sara might quickly discover out that historical past is ready within the shadows, able to land the punch she can not see coming. Pastilan. – Rappler.com