Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Gives Advice for Filipino Voters
SARA DUTERTE – Ahead of the 2025 Elections, the Vice President reminded the Filipino voters to not based their votes on the popularity of the candidates.
Several incumbent officials in the government came from prominent political clans in the Philippines. Pres. Bongbong Marcos and Vice Pres. Duterte both came from popular political families in the country. Both of them are children of former presidents of the country.
Marcos Jr. is the son of the late former Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. while Duterte is the daughter of former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte. The sons of FPRRD, Paolo Duterte and Baste Duterte, both hold public offices as well being the congressman of the First District of Davao and the mayor of Davao City, respectively.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is even running for Davao City mayor in the 2025 Elections with Baste as his running-mate. Three (3) Dutertes were initially expected to run for senator in the upcoming election.
The sister of Pres. Bongbong Marcos also holds public office — Senator Imee Marcos, as well as his eldest son, Ilocos Norte Representative Sandro Marcos. Aside from the Dutertes and the Marcoses, there are several other political clans in the country.
However, although she came from a political family herself, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte advises the Filipino voters not to base their votes on the surnames of the candidates. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, the Vice President told the public to check on the capacity of the candidate.
“Galing ako sa political dynasty, obvious naman ‘yan. Pero hindi dahil galing sa pamilya ng pulitiko ay automatic na ang boto n’yo. Pagisipan n’yo kung ano ang kapasidad ng tao na ‘yan,” Vice Pres. Duterte said.
Furthermore, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte advised the voters not to believe the campaign promises of politicians right away. Based on the report, the Vice President advised the voters to check on the candidates’ track records as well as the promises fulfilled and those that were not met.
“‘Wag kayong maniwala sa mga promises ng mga pulitiko. Tignan n’yo ang kanyang track record. Tignan n’yo ang path ng pulitiko na ‘yan, ano bang nabigay niya. Ano ba ang promise n’ya noon na hindi n’ya naibigay,” Duterte said.
Based on the report, the statement of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte is seemingly a tirade against House Speaker Martin Romualdez who urges her to attend the House inquiry regarding the budget use of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).
Duterte also called on the public not to be swayed by vote buyers. The Vice President said that vote-buying nowadays is kept behind the term “relief” or “ayuda”. She reminded the public to accept it as it is allegedly from the public funds but must not be swayed by these politicians. According to her, the other countries are watching and the Philippines will end up in an embarrassing situation if the voters will be swayed by those who buy votes.
Vice Pres. Duterte is currently busy attending to the needs of the OVP chief-of-staff who was detained at the House and was rushed to the hospital. Attorney Zuleika Lopez whom Duterte visited prior to her being brought to the hospital was cited for contempt for her supposed “interference”.