When a furious city mayor in the Philippines punched a sheriff for disobeying her demands back in 2011 – in full view of the television cameras – there was little outrage. Instead, with one fell swoop, Sara Duterte announced herself as the true heir to her strongman father, the “Trump of Asia”, Rodrigo Duterte.
Sara, the current vice-president of the Philippines, recently took a step closer to succeeding him by declaring that she will run for president in 2028.
Her father, president from 2016-2022, spearheaded a bloody “war on drugs” in which thousands of Filipinos were killed on the streets, without trial and often without any evidence of wrongdoing.
The police terrorised impoverished neighbourhoods, with many victims shot on the spot. Duterte faced his confirmation hearing in late February in the International Criminal Court, where he is being charged with crimes against humanity.
While president, he boasted about the blood he spilled in hours-long, late-night press conferences attacking his political enemies. He called both Pope Francis and Barack Obama “putang ina”, which translates from Tagalog as “son of a whore”. Rodrigo seems to think his daughter will outshine him. He has described Sara as hard to love, the “alpha” of the family – someone who always gets her own way.
She is also prone to expletive-ridden outbursts. In October 2024, she took aim at the current president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, in a two-hour press conference. She threatened to dig up the remains of his father to throw them into the sea. “I just imagine myself cutting his head,” she said, drawing a finger across her own throat.
The current president, Marcos Jr, is also a product of political nepotism. He is the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who presided over violent martial law before being ousted in 1986.
The current alliance between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties is purely strategic. The aim was to secure Marcos Jr’s victory and boost Sara Duterte’s political stature in the 2022 presidential election. There was no ideological alignment. It was always bound to break down.
Since then, Marcos Jr has abandoned Duterte’s anti-drugs onslaught and has reset the Philippines’ relations with the US. The two countries now engage in joint military exercises in the face of the threat from China.
In contrast, Duterte cosied up to China and was conspicuously neutral on maritime incidents in the South China Sea. A Sara Duterte premiership would probably follow suit, as she has consistently refused to criticise Chinese harassment of Philippine vessels, and, while mayor of Davao, oversaw deepening ties with China, which bankrolled several infrastructure projects.
In March 2025, Marcos cooperated with Interpol to extradite Rodrigo Duterte to The Hague. He has also allowed his allies to pursue impeachment proceedings against Sara Duterte for alleged misuse of public funds.
The Dutertes have long represented an antidote to the Manila elite and the bedrock of their support comes from the stronghold on the southern island of Mindanao. Their political dominance is so complete that, last year, Rodrigo Duterte was re-elected mayor of Davao City by a landslide, despite being locked up thousands of miles away.
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I have lived in Davao, and learned that support for the Dutertes transcends political stereotypes, as we would understand them in the west. One friend of mine is a gay, 20-something, cocktail bar owner. In the UK, you might assume he’d be left-leaning – but not in Davao. He fiercely supported Rodrigo Duterte, explaining how the “streets were cleaned up” and it was now safe to go out at night.
On every street corner there are signs reading “Protect VP Sara”. They saw political attacks on Sara Duterte by Marcos and his allies as an establishment stitch-up. If Rodrigo Duterte dies in The Hague, it will only add to the sense of political injustice his supporters feel, and in turn boost his daughter’s chances of winning.
While the breakdown between Marcos and Duterte has been agonisingly entertaining, what is ultimately a dynastic feud has distracted from the country’s huge problems, or poor infrastructure and dwindling literacy rates.
February was also the 40th anniversary of the revolution that ousted Ferdinand Marcos, father of the current president. Some Filipinos who were involved in the uprising regret that so many of their peers suffer from “collective amnesia”, seemingly willing to forget past atrocities and let old power back in.
Which makes it ironic that Sara Duterte, daughter of the man who sanctioned the killing of thousands of his own people, could win power. And while her eccentricities may be amusing, it’s the Filipinos who will suffer. As a Filipino friend said: “The Dutertes and the Marcoses are two warring families acting like feudalistic barons from the 14th or 15th century here in England. Except we are supposed to be in the 21st century.”
Ben Sturt has lived in Mindanao and written about Philippine politics for the Diplomat
