Sara’s outbursts and the Duterte lingo of impunity

It seems that Vice President Sara Duterte’s recent outbursts in Congress and in her pressers didn’t just push her army of supporters to go full throttle in defending her across the country, it also brought back familiar memories for those who witnessed her angry tirades in the city of Davao.

Antonio Julian Montalvan II, a social anthropologist and a Rappler columnist in Mindanao, shared in a Newsbreak Chats episode, “How low can Sara Duterte go,” on Thursday, November 28, that this wasn’t the first time that the Vice President had gone to the media to “raise hell” against critics.

“In 2010, she wanted to appoint Zuleika Lopez as city administrator and this was disapproved. It was rejected by the city council, the Sangguniang Panlungsod, headed by Rodrigo Duterte,” the anthropologist said.

According to Montalvan, Sara gave interviews to local media outlets in an effort to lambast the city council and to send the message that they needed to respect her since she was the mayor of Davao City at the time.

The same scenario was replayed for the world on Saturday, November 23, when the Office of the Vice President (OVP) called for a media briefing via Zoom past midnight. 

Lopez, the OVP’s chief of staff who was cited in contempt for “undue interference” in proceedings, was supposed to be heading the unauthorized presser from inside the House of Representatives detention facility. Duterte took over the presser when Lopez had “appeared to be in tears.”

In the same Zoom meeting, the Vice President boldly claimed that she had made arrangements to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez killed if a plot to kill her succeeded.

“That night, she became Rodrigo Duterte,” Montalvan said.

Habits from Davao

Montalvan said that he had lost count over the Vice President’s use of “p*tang-ina” during the Saturday presser. The curse word is considered a “signature” of the Duterte patriarch himself.

The anthropologist explained that other members of the Duterte clan also speak similarly as Rodrigo Duterte himself. 

“If you listen to the siblings, Paolo also talks that way and lately, Baste, after he became mayor, he would also try to imitate that kind of language of his father,” the anthropologist said.

Montalvan also noted the familiar strategy used by the Dutertes after saying something controversial: “It was taken out of context” or similar variations of the phrase.

Duterte’s allies like Senators Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and Bong Go defended the Vice President’s assassination statement, claiming that it was a “natural reaction to political persecution.”

The problem with the Dutertes, Montalvan added, was the absence of the concept of checks and balances. This could be traced back to the years of power enjoyed by the family due to loyalists who assumed positions in the Davao city council.

“There isn’t any check and balance even from the media because in Davao City, they’re having a difficult time looking at Duterte critically. They are heavily monitored,” the anthropologist said.

Rappler reporter Bonz Magsambol, who was also part of the Newsbreak Chats discussion, said that Duterte’s Saturday presser was overrun by Diehard Duterte Supporters (DDS) vloggers.

“They were complete there. Maharlika, Attorney Trixie Angeles, Bongbong Marcos’ former spokesperson and then, vloggers based abroad. They controlled the press briefings,” Magsambol said in a mix of English and Filipino.

ATL irony

The Vice President said on Wednesday, November 27, that the national government was making use of the Anti-Terror Act of 2020 to harass her, claiming that they had a “playbook” for this alleged tactic.

In 2020, rights groups and advocates had pushed against the signing of the then-anti-terrorism bill over concerns that some provisions would be used against critics of the government. 

The irony is that none other than the Vice President’s father signed the bill into law.

Under the law, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) could order the freezing of financial assets or properties connected to individuals or groups designated as terrorists. The same law also lets the ATC declare individuals or groups as terrorists without getting court approval and lets them detain suspects without charge for up to 24 days.

Montalvan explained that if the law were to be applied to the Vice President, she could face 12 years of imprisonment and be perpetually disqualified from running for public office. 

The anthropologist said the Vice President is also the vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) — the agency that primarily banks on the anti-terrorism law for its operations.

“So it’s poetic justice and now that it will be applied to her, she is raising hell,” the anthropologist said. – Rappler.com