[Pastilan] Politics of knowing nothing: What’s inside Sara Duterte’s brain?

Vice President Sara Duterte’s absurdity continues its seemingly endless march into the territory where exaggeration, recklessness, and sheer stupidity begin to blur with one another. Imagine having the audacity to stand before a crowd and declare that in the Philippines, assassins can be hired to blow someone’s brains out for the flea market price of P5,000. It is the kind of claim that sounds less like a serious observation about a nation and more like a bad script about some fictional Wild, Wild West where killers roam the streets with price lists in their pockets. One can certainly acknowledge that desperate and deranged people exist. Human beings are capable of horrifying acts, and no country is immune from violence. But to casually portray assassination as a cheap, accessible service – as though murder in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao operates like Lazada or Shopee or Grab – is an insulting sensationalism. Where, pray tell, is this supposed assassination marketplace? Where are these ukay-ukay gunmen willing to risk prison, death, and everything else for a fee so outrageously low that the weapon itself could cost much more than the alleged contract? Perhaps such a thing has happened somewhere. The world is full of criminals and lunatics. But transforming a rare and extreme possibility into a sweeping portrayal of an entire country is something else. Sara Duterte made this claim before a captive Filipino audience and within earshot of Dutch citizens, presenting the Philippines as though it were some lawless frontier where human life is casually traded for pocket change. It was a deeply disturbing and cartoonish distortion of the Philippines, designed to shock rather than inform. Was this merely an exaggeration made at the expense of the Filipino people, or was this reckless clown of a vice president speaking from personal experience in Davao? Or, was she speaking about the incentives given to those who carried out her father’s “Oplan Tokhang”? Was P5,000 the supposed price she placed on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s head in 2024? And since First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and former House speaker Martin Romualdez were also publicly threatened by her, was there another calculation – P10,000 more – for their lives? She argued that the killings attributed to her father may have had causes other than his infamous drug war. It offers a glimpse of the kind of defense Duterte’s legal team may present before the International Criminal Court this November. Yet that argument could explode in their faces. If gun violence unrelated to the drug war was indeed rampant enough to account for thousands of killings during Duterte’s presidency, it also suggests his administration failed to maintain peace and order. That would undermine the long-standing DDS narrative that the Philippines was peaceful and orderly during the Duterte years. This is what happens when rhetoric outruns restraint. Sara may believe that dramatic language strengthens her argument, only to discover that her words have a habit of returning as evidence. This is what it looks like when Sara is undone by the very words she unleashed. It’s a “me and my big mouth” moment in which the Duterte style of political posturing became a liability of her own making. After all, one reason she now finds herself facing scrutiny in an impeachment trial is the pattern of statements and actions that betray her troubling willingness to invoke violence. The problem with Sara Duterte’s politics is that when the brain refuses to do the heavy lifting, the tongue takes over, wagging away and mistaking noise for making sense. Her words often create noise, outrage, and headlines. But beneath all the drama, the public is left asking if there is a deeper understanding of the issues that truly matter. She learned this from her father, detained ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, who mastered the art of staying in the spotlight through provocation, outrageous remarks, personal insults, and the drama of defiance. It was less about proving he knew more than everyone else and more about making sure nobody stopped talking about him. The daughter clearly inherited that playbook. ‘Fox Sili’ Outrage can keep a politician trending, but ignorance has a way of eventually ruining the show. A good example came in The Hague, where Sara was asked about Pax Silica, the US-led initiative that has placed the Philippines in the middle of a major geopolitical and technology debate. Her reaction was priceless. First came the confused look. Then the attempt to figure out the name. “Fox sili?” “Fox silic?” And finally: “I cannot comment on that.” Well, of course she cannot comment. It is difficult to offer an opinion on something when it sounds like you are hearing about it for the first time. Politicians are not expected to memorize every name and acronym thrown at them. Nobody needs a walking encyclopedia in Malacañang. But Pax Silica is not some obscure memo sitting in a forgotten government folder. It involves artificial intelligence, national security, industrial development, energy consumption, water security, and the country’s role in the growing US-China technology rivalry. There’s a growing debate on whether the proposed 1,618-hectare AI industrial hub in New Clark City will be a ticket to economic progress or a very expensive headache. There are those who have raised concerns about displacement, environmental impact, sovereignty, and even possible pressure on the power grid. Yet Sara, who wants to lead the country in 2028, appears unable to engage with the issue. Reporters should take note. The next time this vice president faces the press, stop asking only about controversies, reactions, and political drama. Rather, ask questions that require her to show what’s inside her brain. Ask her the tough questions about policy, economics, foreign affairs, and the hard choices that come with governing. Do this because the country needs a leader who knows what to do after picking up the microphone. Of course, the country needs leaders with compassion. But compassion without good judgment is insufficient, just as intelligence without malasakit is dangerous. Leadership requires both a moral instinct and the capacity to understand complex realities. They ought to go together. Add GMRC (good manners and right conduct) to the equation, and Sara Duterte fails on every count. Sara Duterte is unfit to wield power. “Fox sili” sa imong baga. Pastilan. – Rappler.com Click here for other Pastilan columns.