Jim Gomez
Associated Press
Philippine Vice President-elect Sarah Duterte (L), the daughter of the outgoing Philippine populist president, poses as incoming Philippine President Ferdinand “French” after a swearing-in ceremony in his hometown in Davao City, southern Philippines, on June 19. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. greeted. Duterte won a landslide election victory despite her father’s human rights record that saw thousands of drug suspects shot. (AP Photo/Mandejito)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Sara Duterte, the daughter of the country’s outgoing populist president, was sworn in as vice president on June 19 after a landslide election victory despite her Her father’s human rights record has resulted in the shooting of thousands of drug suspects.
The inauguration took place in their southern hometown of Davao, where she is the outgoing mayor, two weeks before her June 30 inauguration under the Philippine constitution. Duterte’s running mate, President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr., will be sworn in in Manila on June 30.
“I’m not the best or smartest person in the Philippines and in the world, but no one can beat my tenacity as a Filipino,” Duterte, dressed in a green traditional robe, said after being sworn in as a Supreme Court aide In front of the judge, her hand rests on the Bible held by her mother.
“The voices of 32.2 million Filipinos were loud and clear — sending a message of service to our country,” Duterte said, referring to the votes she had won to applause from thousands of supporters.
The mother-of-three, affectionately dubbed “Inday Sara” by supporters, called for national unity and devotion to God, and asked Filipinos to emulate the patriotism of the country’s national hero, Jose Rizal. She cited the long-standing social ills Filipino children face, including poverty, broken families, illegal drugs, bullying and online misinformation, and asked parents to instill in them the values of integrity, discipline, respect for others and compassion.
President Rodrigo Duterte, 77, who has also been a longtime mayor since the late 1980s, led the dignitaries in a heavily guarded ceremony at a public plaza near the port city of Davao City Hall. . Coming from a moderately middle-class background, his family built a powerful political dynasty in a troubled southern region long plagued by communist and Muslim insurgency and violent political confrontation.
Duterte’s presidency has been marked by a brutal anti-drug campaign that has resulted in thousands of mostly minor suspects being shot dead by police or vigilantes. The International Criminal Court is investigating the drug killings as a possible crime against humanity.
Sara Duterte and Marcos Jr.’s electoral victories alarmed left-wing and human rights groups after they failed to admit that their fathers, including late dictator Ferdinand Marcos ) mass human rights atrocities under their rule.
Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte campaign on a vague platform of national unity, without clear answer to activists’ calls for them to take steps to sue Duterte after he retires .
One of the president’s sons, Sebastian Duterte, will succeed his sister as Davao’s mayor, while another, Paul Duterte, won a House seat in the May 9 election. The outgoing president’s late father was a former Davao governor.
Philippine elections have long been dominated by politicians of the same bloodline. At least 250 political families across the country have a monopoly on power, although the constitution prohibits such dynasties. Congress — long controlled by powerful clan members targeted by constitutional bans — failed to pass the laws needed to define and enforce the provision.
While Sarah Duterte, 44, has rejected calls from her father and supporters to run for president, she has not ruled out a future run. Last year, she topped the polls ahead of the presidential election and won by a huge margin like Marcos Jr.
In addition to vice president, she also agreed to serve as education secretary, although some say her initial preference was to lead the Department of Defense, the traditional springboard for the presidency.
Still, the education portfolio will provide her with her first national political platform, especially with plans to resume physical education classes soon after the country was hit hard by the two-year coronavirus pandemic outbreak and lockdown.
She thanked her Davao supporters and said she had decided to hold her inauguration in one of the country’s most developed cities to show her pride in her rise to the nation’s top job as a southern provincial politician.
Duterte, who completed a medical course, wanted to be a doctor but chose law and was persuaded to start politics in 2007, three years after she was elected deputy and mayor of Davao City.
In 2011, despite her plea for a brief extension, she drew national attention when she was videotaped beating and assaulting a court magistrate who was helping lead police to demolish a shantytown. The court officer suffered eye and face injuries and was taken to hospital by her bodyguard.
Despite a public spat with her father, Sarah Duterte shaved her hair a year before the 2016 election to show support for his candidacy.
He won a six-year single mission by a huge margin, but failed to commit to eradicating illicit drugs and corruption within three to six months, and kept publicly threatening to kill drug dealers.
