Wednesday, May 23, 2007 Inday Vice By Jojie Alcantara Witerary
FRESH from our assignment in Mabuhay Magazine to feature beach resorts, Rhonson and I received a call from Zee Lifestyle Magazine of Cebu if we can do the cover story of Sara "Inday" Duterte.
She is of course, the daughter of beloved Mayor Duterte, and was at that time busy running for vice mayor with her father. (They were already proclaimed winners on Saturday night.)
Even if I had worked for the mayor's office back in the 90s, I have yet to meet Inday, as she is fondly called. Back then she was very young and quiet, tagging along with her dad in her own big bike.
The interview was at Marco Polo Hotel, and she was ushered into the suite for hurried preparations by Davao designer Gary Sicam and hair and makeup artist Otoy Mercado. Mom Elizabeth looked on from a distance and preferred to watch TV beside Inday's fiance, Mansy Carpio.
Inday asked if she can speak Visayan before we started our interview. Media mistakenly takes her shy, quiet exterior for aloofness because she has limited media interviews.
Born with good genes from both parents (mom is a beautiful Filipina-German mix of the Zimmermans from Leyte and Cebu, dad's clan hailed from the Visayas), Inday is tall and full-figured with a face gently framed by dark brown hair. Although shy, her soft mestiza features cannot hide the tough character inherited from her dad.
She was a consistent honor student since her elementary years, and became a scholar in high school. By this time, she began to feel the pressures of her father's political work, and went into some withdrawal.
"I only had three very good friends," she confided.
Inday grew up in a family of strong, influential personalities. Her lolo, the late governor Vicente Duterte, ruled over the provincial Davao in the 60s. Her father was tagged by Time Magazine as "The Punisher" for his disciplinary rule over Davao. Mayor Duterte is after all, responsible for the city's peace and order improvement since the 90s. Nanay Soling, Mayor Duterte's mother, was a strict disciplinarian and educator who raised Mayor Rody with love and some heavy whipping.
Nanay constantly told Inday to always be makamasa. Mom Elizabeth is a college professor who said Inday was an obedient child, and was never a problem.
What about college, I asked? To which both mom and daughter reacted in stifled giggles. Experiencing the thrill of freedom in Manila, Inday honestly admitted she was kicked out of pre-med in La Salle for being "bulakbol."
Shades of the father here (Mayor was once kicked out of law school for bringing a gun into class). Worried in disappointing her parents and being labeled a loser if she goes home to Davao, Inday shifted to law school in San Beda. She took the bar in 2005 and passed in 2006.
Her job as a court attorney in the Supreme Court was interrupted when her father asked her to run for office in Davao. There were no ifs and buts with the request, and she reluctantly gave in because "he is my father, and in my gratitude, I owe him so much because he never once said no to me."
Leaving her simple and uncomplicated life in Manila, Inday flew back to Davao to face a bigger challenge in politics. Her fiancé flew back with her in support.
She joined rallies and sorties daily, traveled to the farthest and most remote barangays to see poor people surviving without electricity and water. She was all the more determined to take up her new role.
Though running uncontested, some have questioned her capacity as a leader, apart from the fact that she looks more like a celebrity than a politician.
Born a Gemini in the year of the horse, Inday is easygoing but impatient. She hates loose ends and mediocre, haphazard work output. She is unconventional and a nonconformist and believes that religion and politics should never mix. At 29, she still exudes a rebellious streak, as revealed on the tattoo on her lower back and on her ankle.
The eldest among three broods (Paolo and Sebastian) and one half-sister (Veronica), Inday is unmistakably family-oriented, loyal and malambing, as related by Mansy, who was actually born in Davao, too.
They met in Manila and despite the warning bells in his head as to whose daughter he was dealing with, he was way too bitten by the love bug to back off and bravely faced the legendary father for her hand.
"Sara is sweet and caring, but strict and moody," he said. He was willing to postpone wedding plans to alleviate the pressures on Inday's new responsibilities.
Inday was indeed a breath of fresh air to interview. She was candid, engaging and wise beyond her years. I asked her what was the first thing she would do when she takes her seat in the government and her reply would remind you of Mayor Rody: "I will clean my own backyard first, and remind my people what they were hired to do in the first place."
Behind the sophisticated makeup and designer clothes is a tough nut to crack.
Wearing a Maria Clara inspired gown cut down to her back, her tattoo peaked out from her lower spine. Another tattoo flashed on her leg from behind the slit of the long gown. Isn't it easy to imagine her on her big bike with whip in hand, confronting criminals in the signature Duterte style?
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