THE Filipinos are thinking of sharing their support to the presidential daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara “Inday” Duterte-Carpio, towards running in the Senate for the 2019 elections. The president believes that his daughter can be counted on by Filipinos as the next president of the country. Now we ask, why should the presidential daughter become the next president of the Philippines?
On September 8, President Rodrigo Duterte told the Filipino community in Jordan that he hopes Mayor Sara would fulfill his unmet promises once he fully decides to step down from his position as the president.
“I won here, 73 percent of you voted for me. So I will remember that for all time. And if I fail to make good on my promises, I hope in little ways, Inday, she’s a mayor, she might be in the future,” Duterte said in a mixture of Filipino and English as stated in Philippine Star Global.
Many are against the administration of President Duterte. One thing’s for sure: If Mayor Sara Duterte will be elected as the new president of the country, she will be given the same criticism as what her father had also received.
Even before that, she was already criticized in July 2011 after she slugged the court sheriff in the face during a demolition. It went viral around social media and was criticized by people mostly from Luzon. They say that a mayor should not act like that and must show formality in every aspect because people look up on her.
She was also condemned by netizens who follow her for shamelessly using expletives or swear words when posting on social media or when in public. Also, people refuse to have her as the next president because she has a tattoo on her leg. These criticisms somehow come from people who are conservative and follow the traditions of the past.
But with all these criticisms, we still believe that Mayor Sara Duterte has the potential to becoming the next president of the country.
What happened between the mayor and the court sheriff was controversial. But what Mayor Sara did was show bravery and that she was fighting for those people who were affected by the demolition.
Punching the face of that sheriff was a sign that a person like Mayor Sara would defend the right of her people. Even though she received criticisms from it, she was also praised for it because of her bravery.
Long before she even became the Mayor, it was already known that they use expletives to express anger. Even though it’s wrong especially when you’re an official whom people look up to, it is no longer a relevant issue if someone makes a big deal out of it.
Tattoos do not matter, too. It is somehow immature to think that tattoos could affect a person’s personality. Tattoo is art.
The presidential daughter has shown that she is active in governing her people, she has shown bravery in everything despite all the criticism and kindness where she gives back to her people. But if time really comes that Mayor Sara will run for presidency, it is still up to the people to decide whether they will vote for her or not. (Juan Genaro D. Halog, Ateneo de Davao University)