By Robert Roque Jr.
After 10 days in detention, Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, Zuleika Lopez, was released last Friday.
The move may be interpreted as a way for the House of Representatives to cool down tensions, but in truth — Lopez’s arbitrary detention has already served its purpose: cause the ruin of her boss.
It was a trap that worked beautifully to checkmate the VP into a corner by playing on her emotions. Indeed, she ticked off and now she can be disbarred, charged criminally, subject to impeachment proceedings, and, well, shamed and discredited before the world.
Her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, may be bold enough to call on the military to rise against the Commander-in-Chief; Sara may be brave enough to lead a “people’s power,” but even their loyal supporters know that such actions only dig up a deeper hole for them to be buried politically.
President Marcos’s dismissal of Inday Sara’s threats on his life as a “storm in a teacup” is, at best, the mark of a leader strategically confident in his position.
He even tells his friends in Congress to abandon any plans of impeaching her over the grave threats to him, his wife First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and his cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Far from downplaying the gravity of the remarks unleashed by a crazy-mad VP Sara, his calm reaction underscores a calculated effort to project strength — both against a ranting vice president and amid rising national concerns.
While Marcos may appear unperturbed, the National Bureau of Investigation’s subpoena of Duterte signals a decisive legal move by the Department of Justice.
This dual approach conveys a clear message: the administration won’t stoop to emotional theatrics, but neither will it allow such threats to evade accountability.
The VP may be projecting a brave face, but being a no-show at the NBI was the mark of someone running away. She did the exact opposite of her father’s display of brawn before a Quadcom hearing teeming with enemies, calling on them to bring it on at 2 o’clock in the morning.
So let’s not wonder why calls to gather around the EDSA Shrine in a show of support for the VP mustered a whimper in numbers. Clearly, the Vice President’s bluster may echo her father’s bravado, but it rings hollow in a nation unwilling to embrace another storm of turmoil.
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