Sara Duterte: First Daughter, Davao city mayor – and Philippine president in waiting?
- The middle child of President Rodrigo Duterte is as controversial as her father, whom she may succeed in 2022 if rumours in the country ring true
- But, even before she has signalled her intention to run, the Davao City Mayor’s candidacy is already being intensely scrutinised
Long before Sara Duterte became First Daughter, she made headlines as the feisty mayor of Davao City who punched a sheriff – thrice in quick succession.
In an incident that prompted a TV station to nickname her “the slugger”, Sara had become enraged after her request to delay a demolition of illegal shanties was ignored, sparking a riot that she had been trying to prevent.
When the sheriff of the court tried to flee, her bodyguards dragged him and held him as Sara yanked his hair in front of TV cameras.
Sara, then 33, took her brief suspension as a mayor in silence after that incident in July 2011, but her father Rodrigo Duterte, who was then her vice-mayor, made his opinions known by cussing and flashing a finger at media critics.
He advised his middle child not to apologise but to “celebrate, be happy ... with the thought that you protected the people”.
Duterte’s praise for his daughter’s leadership went up a notch when in 2017, in his second year as Philippine president, he told reporters: “I couldn’t find any other better candidate than Sara to become the next president.”