Reporter Zhao Enting
htmlAt noon on June 30, Philippine President Duterte met with President-elect Marcos Jr., marking the completion of the handover of the highest power in the Philippines. Subsequently, Duterte officially resigned from office, left the presidential palace Malacañang , and returned to his hometown in the southern city of Davao ; Marcos Jr. went to the Philippine National Museum to be sworn in, officially becoming the 17th President of the Philippines.With the change of ownership of Malacañang Palace, the Duterte era in the Philippines has come to an end, but the "Duterte family era" in the Philippines seems to have just begun. On June 19, Marcos’ running mate and Vice President-elect Sarah Duterte was sworn in in her hometown of Davao City. Her other identity is the daughter of outgoing President Duterte.
On June 30, Marcos Jr. (left) went to the Presidential Palace to meet with the outgoing Duterte before being sworn in.
6 years ago today, Duterte became the first Philippine president from the southern island of Mindanao. His political base was Davao City in Mindanao. Davao is the third largest city in the Philippines, an important economic center and port. Duterte has been in charge of this city for more than 20 years. With his iron-fist governance, he has vigorously cracked down on drug trafficking, gun proliferation, smuggling, kidnapping and anti-government armed activities, turning Davao into a To become a city known for its safety to attract more investment.
Duterte comes from a local political family, and his father Duterte once served as the governor of Davao Province. By deeply cultivating Davao City, Duterte further consolidated his family's political territory. Even after becoming the president of the Philippines, Duterte often left the capital Manila and returned to his hometown of Davao to handle official business and take vacations.
After entering the situation as an "outsider", Duterte spent six years "transforming" Manila's political circle. As he leaves office today and returns home, the political clout that belongs to Duterte and his family lives on in Manila.
On June 19, in the southern Philippine city of Davao, Duterte attended the inauguration ceremony of his daughter Sarah (left) as vice president.
Sarah Duterte has become an iconic figure who succeeded her father and became the leader of family politics in Manila. After her father became president, Sarah became the mayor of Davao. Since the second half of last year, as the Philippine general election approaches, Sarah's exposure has soared, and her public support ratings have been far ahead, making her a popular presidential candidate.
At that time, Duterte was still racking his brains on how to lay out the "post-Duterte era" - he first announced his unprecedented candidacy for vice president, then gave up and instead ran for senator, and finally announced that he would not run. . During this period, he and Sarah also had differences over whether the latter would run for president or vice president. There were also rifts within Duterte's party, and there were many changes in the combination of presidential and vice presidential candidates.
The current situation - little Marcos partnering with Sarah - is inseparable from Duterte's "intention". Marcos Jr. was born in the Marcos family, another political family in the Philippines. His father served as the president of the Philippines for a long time. He was a controversial figure with mixed reputations and a disastrous ending. Affected by this, if Marcos wants to make a comeback, partnering with Sarah, the daughter of the current president and the most popular candidate, is the best choice.
Marcos Jr. and Sarah
With the advantage of the "second generation president" combination, Marcos Jr. easily won the election, while Sarah's vote rate was higher than Marcos Jr.'s. For Duterte and his family, this arrangement means "saving the country through curves." Sarah initially stated that she was happy to govern Davao and had no intention of participating in the general election. Later, she entered the general election contest with "half push".
From Davao to Manila, perhaps the vice presidential position is a "springboard" for Sarah to experience and accumulate greater political resources . It is not impossible for Sarah to further enter Malacañang Palace in the future. For the Duterte family, this is a more secure and step-by-step political line of attack. When Duterte left office, he still maintained a public approval rating of over 60%, which was unprecedented in Philippine history. This is not only his own political capital, but also the fundamentals of Sarah and other family members.
Duterte (middle), Marcos Jr. (third from right) and their families attended the inauguration ceremony of Sarah (second from left).
Sarah became the Vice President of the Philippines, and her brother Sebastian Duterte was elected mayor of Davao, continuing to hold on to and consolidate the Duterte family’s political stronghold; her brother Paul Duterte He was elected as a member of Congress in the first district of Davao City with a high vote, becoming another fulcrum of the Duterte family in Manila's political circle.
Duterte has been in power for six years and has copied the model of governing Davao to Manila and the entire Philippines. He has vigorously cracked down on criminal activities such as drug trafficking and promoted large-scale infrastructure construction plans. After the Senate election in May, Duterte Trump's political allies still dominate the Senate.
In terms of foreign relations, Duterte challenged the United States many times during his tenure, and Philippines-US relations cooled. He once terminated the " Visiting Forces Agreement ", an important document on US-Philippine military relations, in February 2020, and then "suspended the termination" three times. "It was not restored until US Defense Secretary Austin's visit to the Philippines in July last year.
After the Duterte government came to power, China-Philippines relations have recovered and have continued to develop steadily. After being elected as president, Marcos Jr. issued a statement on May 18, emphasizing that under his leadership, the Philippines and China would continue to expand their relations and the Philippines-China relations would be "elevated to a higher level."
On June 30, Marcos was sworn in as President of the Philippines.
Duterte left Manila in the north and returned to his hometown of Davao in the south. The political influence of Duterte and his family echoed in the north and south. Although Sarah was sworn in as Vice President in Davao before, Duterte, Marcos Jr. and former President Arroyo appeared to support her. In addition to its office location in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Sarah plans to have a permanent Vice Presidential Palace and multiple “satellite offices.”
Sarah's spokesman, Francisco Frasco, said that Sarah was sworn in earlier than Marcos Jr. so that she could attend the inauguration ceremony of Marcos Jr. and attend the thank you meeting together to express her gratitude to the Filipino people for their strong support. . Sarah held the inauguration ceremony separately from Marcos Jr., which also showed her intention to "go her own way", further amplifying attention and maintaining contact with the political base.
