06/09/2026
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ
Coming from a family branded as powerful and unbowed, there is a peculiar irony in watching her cry like a dog as she finds herself on the other side of the law.
On the fourth of September, Vice President Sara Duterte, currently under impeachment proceedings, tasted another bitter judicial hurdle as the Quezon City Regional Trial Court issued a warrant of arrest against her for three counts of grave threats. A day later, she posted โฑ360,000 bail and the warrant was lifted. Yet, she took no time in turning a judicial process into a kalyeserye, like the drama queen she isโan expert at influencing the public eye and transforming accountability into persecution.
The predator became a preyโspeaking the language of the haunted.
๐ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ด ๐ถ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ธ!
For months, the Duterte family, together with their supporters, have been advocating for the return of former President Rodrigo Duterte, currently detained at the International Criminal Court. They call for a just process, for the accused to be judged in the courts of his own country.
Yet now, as the courts of the Philippines are put into action, she changes her narrative.
โ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ช๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ช๐ด, ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ช๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฎ๐จ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ.โ
But I thought, this was exactly what you wanted?
The argument was simple, ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ท๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ.
When the court was an instrument for their demands, it was sovereignty. But when the same court became the instrument for her accountability, itโs persecution?
It raises questions on what the Vice President really stands for. It questions her integrity and ability to hold herself accountable for her own actions. It is not even a matter of her guiltโlet the courts decide on that. However, when the second highest elected politician is called to answer to justice, she is in no position to deny that process.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป-๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ถ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ผ?
At one point, she even insinuated that she now faces the same persecution the late Ninoy Aquino faced when he was assassinated 43 years ago.
๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป? ๐ข๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ?
To compare herself to a victim of violent political persecution, when it was she who had a violent meltdown, announcing to the country that she had contracted an assassin to kill President Bongbong Marcos Jr., first Lady Lisa Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez in case something happened to her, is an irony difficult to ignore.
Where was that smug woman who said not to worry? She now cries for sympathy.
โ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐ฐ, ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฐ.โ
What a slap in the face to every victim of extrajudicial killings during her father's presidency.
"๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐ช๐ข๐๐๐๐ฃ, ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐๐ฎ๐ค," this was the exact words of his father on his police order to kill suspects fighting back.
Official figures from Philippine authorities recorded thousands of deaths resulting from anti-drug operations between July 2016 and June 2022. Thousands of lives were lost in just six years.
I struggle to grasp what โunsafeโ means when you have hundreds of guards surrounding you, when the very police force tasked with enforcing the law appears hesitant to place handcuffs on a politician accused of threatening the President. I struggle to feel sympathy to a person who enabled such actions in the past regime.
Meanwhile, farmers, journalists, and students continue to face the coercive force of the state simply for asserting their rights.
They were not vice presidents.
They did not have the power.
Yet, they simply vanish into statics, as if they never existed.
๐ฆ๐ผ, ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ?
In the August 2026 National Momentum Survey, VP Sara gathered a 61.3-percent approval rating from the Filipino people. It might seem strange that despite grasping at straws in the political schemes surrounding her, she remains seemingly undamaged in the public eye.
However, it is pretty simpleโit is ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
There is a clear disconnect between the masses and the progress of the impeachment trials. Because after Sara announced her plans to run for the 2028 presidency, she made sure to paint these trials as nothing but political persecutionโa political maneuver designed to stop her ascension to power.
And that is why many of her supporters do not care.
To them, this is merely another political game. They have better things to worry about: inflation, jobs, food security, and the daily struggle to survive.
And just like that, she successfully turned political vulnerability and accountability into public sympathy.
๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ต.
This time, she whimpers. She trembles. Sheโs no longer using fear to rule, but pity. It is honestly pathetic to witness yet it is clear how dangerous influence is.
It is not a debate whether Sara is allowed to be afraid. She is.
However, fear should never erase accountability.
Clenched fist, raised voiceโit was their identity. So it is almost theatrical to behold their facade crumble like barking dogs now crying as the gate to their actions opens.
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Text by vietnamese latte
Cartoon by kapeng barako
Layout by matcha latte
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