Philippine media reported on March 11 that Duterte was detained by the police after returning from abroad and arriving at Manila International Airport. Previously, the Presidential Palace of the Philippines confirmed that the Manila branch of Interpol had received an arrest warrant for Duterte from the International Criminal Court (ICC). Duterte had earlier stated that he was prepared to be arrested.
In recent months, the "power struggle" between Duterte and the Marcos family has escalated.
Local time on February 13, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte shouted the slogan "Protect Sara" at a rally led by his Democratic People's Power Party. At this time, it was only 8 days since the Philippine House of Representatives passed the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
The trigger for this "father-daughter defense battle" points directly to a political earthquake in the Philippine House of Representatives on February 5: 215 members signed the impeachment of Sara, far exceeding the legal threshold of one-third. Interestingly, the first signer on the impeachment list was Sandro Marcos, the son of President Ferdinand Marcos, and the final signature was made by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, considered a core ally of the Marcos family.
The source of the impeachment case can be traced back to the "midnight breakdown" incident of Sara on November 23, 2024. That night, Sara started a live broadcast in the dark from the Vice President's office, tearfully issuing a shocking national death threat: "If I am killed, go kill President Marcos, the First Lady, and the Speaker!" This uncontrollable declaration was immediately dubbed the "Philippine version of the Watergate scandal" by the media, completely tearing apart the fragile alliance maintained by the two major families for three years.
According to the impeachment complaint, Sara is accused of "unconstitutional, betrayal of public trust, corruption, and suspected of planning to assassinate the president, the first lady, and the speaker" multiple felonies. If convicted, Sara will become the first vice president in Philippine history to be impeached. Facing the charges, Sara strongly countered: "This is a political persecution by the Marcos family!"
The fragile "match made in heaven"
In 2021, two special meetings facilitated a political alliance that shocked the world.
The first meeting took place on May 31, Sara's 43rd birthday, when Senator Imee Marcos and her brother Ferdinand Marcos visited Davao City, where Sara was the mayor at the time. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the three removed their masks, had lunch together, and joked around.
The second meeting occurred on October 23, when Sara met again with the Marcos siblings in Cebu. These meetings were facilitated by Imee Marcos, who is both a good friend of Sara and the sister of Marcos. Analysts claim that these key meetings led Sara and Marcos to form "some kind of cooperation."
A few weeks after the meeting in Cebu, Sara publicly announced her "unity" campaign platform to run alongside Marcos. This statement immediately shocked the nation. At that time, Sara was the most popular potential presidential candidate, followed by Marcos. Both belong to two major political families in the Philippines, with the Duterte family's stronghold in the southern island of Mindanao, and the Marcos family dominating in the northern province of Ilocos Norte.
People familiar with Sara revealed in media interviews: "Duterte did not know about Sara's decision, as she has always wanted to prove her independence from her father." Sara later confirmed this in an interview with British media, saying, "Before deciding not to run, I made a chart listing the reasons for and against running." She added that she did not even tell her father the specific reasons.
However, Duterte sees Marcos as a weak leader, not suitable to lead the Philippines. Duterte's former spokesperson Harry Roque revealed that the president once hoped his daughter would change her mind and run. "The president has always believed that she (Sara) is the most capable presidential candidate," Harry Roque said.
In 2018, at a business conference in Manila, then-President Duterte publicly commented on his daughter Sara, who was the mayor of Davao City at the time: "You should all be careful of my daughter, she 'can do anything', whether in terms of physical strength or political power." He jokingly warned: "Where else can you see a mayor on live TV, punching a police chief in front of everyone? Be careful of that woman, she just operates in the Davao region and can drive away the speaker." Duterte finished, and the audience laughed.
Duterte mentioned two incidents, one of which occurred during Sara's first term as mayor of Davao City. At that time, the city was hit by a flood, leaving many people homeless, and Police Chief Andres insisted on demolishing a slum in the Agdao district of Soliman Village, sparking local protests. Sara directly punched the police chief in the face twice, injuring his left eye and face. The mayor punching the police chief in the street became the headline news of major Philippine media the next day, and some media even described her as a "heavyweight boxer mayor."
The other incident Duterte referred to was during the 2018 House of Representatives reorganization, when Sara participated in the power struggle, resulting in the expulsion of Davao Norte Representative Pantaleon Alvarez, and Sara's close ally and mentor, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, becoming the Speaker of the House. The mentor-student relationship between Sara and Arroyo was thus formed.
During the campaign, Sara once again teamed up with Arroyo to form her own campaign team. "Running for vice president is a path that allows me to heed the call of supporters and serve the country, and it will also help me become a stronger public servant," Sara explained her decision in a later interview.
However, Duterte's former spokesperson Harry Roque revealed that although Marcos and Sara claimed to be running as a "joint team," allies from the Duterte camp were only allowed to enter the "Sara floor" at Marcos' headquarters.
Almost without suspense, in the 2022 elections, presidential candidate Marcos and his running mate Sara won the presidency and vice presidency by an overwhelming majority. When the results were announced, Imee Marcos, who directly facilitated the cooperation between the two families, once again stated that this was a "match made in heaven" for Philippine politics.
For centuries, family politics has played an important role in the Philippines. These family relationships and interest chains are intertwined, controlling local votes and maintaining close ties with the central government, even possessing private armed forces. Since 2001, all four presidents of the Philippines—Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III, Rodrigo Duterte, and Ferdinand Marcos—have come from several major political families in the Philippines. These families often consolidate and strengthen their power through alliances and marriages, thereby maintaining the continuity of family power. On the other hand, these families also often engage in bloody and violent political struggles over the distribution of power and interests.
In fact, the risks in this "match made in heaven" alliance were embedded from the beginning. According to a person close to Marcos, just after the election ended, the Duterte camp demanded that Marcos allocate half of the cabinet seats to allies, which shocked the latter. The first public sign of friction between the two sides was when Sara was stripped of the opportunity to serve as Minister of Defense and was instead appointed the less powerful Minister of Education.
Rumors of discord quickly spread. In response, Sara issued a statement early on, trying to quell external speculation. "I expect those who hope to see the new government fail will create conspiracy theories about my loyalty and the position of Minister of Defense to undermine the joint team," she added. "The joint team" hopes to maintain stability in the Philippines and establish a government that is as harmonious as possible.
De La Salle University scholar Anthony Lawrence Borja analyzed for China News Weekly that Marcos and Sara are very different people, and their camps represent different positions. Ultimately, the foundation of this alliance is fragile.
"A 180-degree turn"
The appearance of unity lasted only one year, and the relationship between the two camps reached its first turning point. In May 2023, the House of Representatives unexpectedly removed former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from her position as Deputy Speaker.
According to sources, Arroyo was supposed to be appointed Speaker of the House before the election, just like in 2018. However, after being elected president, Marcos quickly appointed his cousin Martin Romualdez to the position. The initiator of Arroyo's removal was Martin Romualdez.
Arroyo is the daughter of former President Diosdado Macapagal and the second female president of the Philippines. In public, Arroyo never hesitated to praise Sara. In 2019, she described Sara Duterte as a "rising star in Philippine politics."
"Romualdez's actions triggered everything," Duterte's lawyer Salvador Panelo later stated. She revealed that after Arroyo was dismissed, "Sara has been waiting for Marcos' stance, but he chose to ignore it at the time. The Presidential Palace did not provide any explanation."
Some rumors claimed that Arroyo tried to remove House Speaker Martin Romualdez. If Arroyo succeeded, Marcos' power would be weakened, and he might face impeachment. Therefore, the Marcos camp decided to strike first. The mastermind behind this action was Marcos himself.
This move angered Sara, causing her to publicly attack Marcos' allies for the first time. She posted on social media, calling Romualdez a "shameless monster" and condemning him as "politically toxic." Subsequently, Sara resigned from the Christian Muslim Democratic Force Party led by Speaker Romualdez.
A few months later, the House of Representatives led by Romualdez directly targeted Sara herself, reviewing the way Sara handled confidential funds. Confidential funds are discretionary funds used by government agencies to support their secret activities. Because Sara failed to explain how she spent 125 million pesos (about 2.25 million US dollars) in 11 days in 2022, the House of Representatives ultimately canceled the confidential funds in the vice president's budget for the following year.
The House of Representatives' investigation into Sara's confidential funds quickly deteriorated the relationship between the two camps, and Duterte publicly criticized the House of Representatives as a "rotten institution."
Subsequently, the House of Representatives dropped another bombshell. The House Judiciary Committee and Human Rights Committee unanimously passed three resolutions urging the Philippine government to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the anti-drug war launched by former President Duterte. Police data shows that during Duterte's administration, the anti-drug operations resulted in the deaths of more than 6,200 people, with the police usually claiming they killed suspects in self-defense. However, human rights organizations believe the actual death toll is much higher.
At the beginning of his term, Marcos stated that he would not assist the International Criminal Court in investigating Duterte's anti-drug campaign. But starting from November 2023, Marcos revealed that he was reconsidering joining the International Criminal Court. This led some to believe that Marcos was about to use the International Criminal Court to arrest his predecessor. "They made a 180-degree turn," Duterte's former spokesperson Harry Roque stated, "Their real target is to send Duterte to The Hague."
In Anthony Lawrence Borja's view, after taking office, Marcos has been distancing himself from his predecessor Duterte. Internationally, he seeks more support from the United States; domestically, he can cater to more moderate classes, even liberal and opposition members.
Ronald Llamas, an advisor to former President Benigno Aquino III, stated that Marcos is trying to "destroy the Duterte family." And if the Duterte family performs well in the 2025 midterm elections, they will also "retaliate" against the Marcos family.
"Siege of Davao Stronghold"
Entering 2024, the struggle between the two families intensified. In January 2024, at a rally in Davao, Duterte blasted Marcos as a "drug addict." Duterte's son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, directly demanded Marcos resign from the presidency, accusing him of failing to effectively address crime and criticizing his foreign policy for "endangering the lives of innocent Filipinos."
"Marcos should think about the fate of the Romanov family and Benito Mussolini," he also threatened, "Think about what happened to your father in 1986, you might reconsider the direction you are taking." In 1986, then-President Marcos was overthrown and exiled to Hawaii, USA, where he died three years later.
At this time, Sara and Marcos still maintained a superficial unity in their alliance, not directly targeting Marcos. Sara claimed that her brother Sebastian's remarks were "out of sibling affection" and stated that she had been "despicably treated by certain departments within the presidential circle."
Marcos also responded, stating that although Sara's brother and father had strongly criticized him, there was no conflict between him and Sara.
However, on May 23, 2024, the Marcos camp directly reached into the Duterte family's stronghold, Davao City. On that day, under the order of the Philippine National Police Commission, Davao City Police Chief Richard Badan, a confidant of Duterte, and 40 police officers were dismissed from their positions. That afternoon, two special operations forces directly commanded by the President of the Philippines arrived in the area to take over local security.
By July, the Marcos government had drastically replaced the chief of the city police and all the chiefs of its subordinate police stations. According to local observers in Davao, such a large-scale blood transfusion in the Davao City Police Department was the first in the city's history.
According to the 1990 Republic Act No. 6975, also known as the "1990 Internal and Local Government Act," city mayors should have "operational supervision and control" over the national police forces within their jurisdiction. This also means that in some regions dominated by Philippine political families, the national police are essentially their legal armed forces. The Duterte family has been in power in Davao City for nearly 40 years, which has always been considered an "impregnable fortress" for the Marcos government.
The Philippine Rappler news network pointed out that the large-scale blood transfusion in the Davao City Police Department not only weakened the Duterte family's power but also constituted an "open mockery."
The actions against the Davao stronghold did not stop there. The Philippine government also launched an investigation into Duterte's close ally, religious leader Apollo Quiboloy, on charges of human rights violations, and arrested him in September. Apollo Quiboloy is also the founder of SMNI radio and television stations. This is an international media headquartered in Davao City, which was ordered by the Philippine National Telecommunications Commission to suspend operations indefinitely in January 2024. For the Duterte family, this media is special, serving as an important platform for promoting Duterte family political ideas, with Duterte himself having a column.
Tony Lavina, head of the Department of Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy at the Philippine Judicial Academy, believes that the series of siege actions launched by the Marcos camp has put tremendous pressure on Sara.
Sara's "Revenge"
Sara once candidly stated that her relationship with her father was "not that close." Duterte grew up in the war-torn southern Philippine city of Davao, and although he was the child of the governor of Davao Province, he fought and brawled with street gangs from a young age. Duterte's brother revealed that Duterte had been carrying a gun since he was 15. During his tenure as mayor of Davao City and president of the Philippines, Duterte displayed a strongman personality.
However, in family life, Duterte was repeatedly accused by Sara's mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman Duterte, who described Duterte as a "womanizer" and claimed to often suffer "mental abuse" from Duterte. Duterte himself did not deny these accusations and even publicly joked that he had three girlfriends.
The couple eventually dissolved their legal relationship in 2015. People close to Sara stated that this caused a rift in her relationship with her father. Sara also made no secret of her mixed feelings of love and hate for her father during her student years: "I come from a broken family."
Despite this, Duterte still regarded Sara as the "apple of his eye," and several people close to the Duterte family revealed that Sara was Duterte's favorite child. One even stated that Duterte was somewhat afraid of his eldest daughter. Sara is independent and never hesitated to clash with Duterte.
In her teens, she and her mother expressed dissatisfaction with Duterte's overnight stays outside, and Sara adopted a cold and violent attitude towards her father. Duterte, then mayor of Davao City, once told his subordinates: "Imagine, it's been a week, and she still won't talk to me!"
In a later interview, Duterte helplessly said: "Sara always understands my thoughts, she can read me, but her thoughts are elusive to me."
Sara also often intentionally displayed her differences from her father, such as forming her own team during her tenure as mayor of Davao City and forming an alliance with Marcos to run for vice president.
However, as Duterte's eldest daughter, compared to her brothers Paulo and Sebastian, Sara is still considered the most like Duterte. She is also a lawyer by profession, has a tough style, and enjoys riding large motorcycles. Duterte has repeatedly described Sara as the "strong personality" in the family.
Although there were grievances between father and daughter, they also supported each other. During Duterte's presidential campaign in 2016, Sara shaved her head to fully support her father's campaign. In the same year, Duterte won the election, and Sara was also re-elected as mayor of Davao City. In September of the same year, Sara, pregnant with triplets, traveled between districts to coordinate security forces, leading to the loss of heartbeats in two of the triplets due to overexertion. At that time, Duterte was attending the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos. He later recalled to the media that when he received the call about his daughter losing two children, he hid in the bathroom and cried.
In March 2017, Sara gave birth to the only "survivor" and named him "Stonefish." This is a small but highly venom
