The punch that landed Sara Duterte in the national headlines 15 years ago is being revisited by the House prosecution panel as it prepares her impeachment trial.
Of the 57 witnesses listed by the prosecution, former court sheriff Abe Andres is included-the man who absorbed the blows by then-Mayor Sara Duterte during a heated demolition of shanties in Agdao, Davao City in 2011.
Duterte supporters ask: What’s the relevance of this matter?
It matters, the prosecution argues.
The incident demonstrates the vice president’s “tendency to inflict violence”, a behavioral pattern that resurfaced in a late-night livestream in November 2024, where she ranted about conceiving assassination plots against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
While the prosecution seeks to establish a pattern of conduct, we must revisit this moment for another reason: to examine how the myth of Sara was constructed.
This myth was forged to rescue Sara from political disaster. As first-time Davao City mayor, she immediately faced possible suspension or removal by the Ombudsman for assaulting a court officer. Her handlers transformed that low into a rallying point.
Thousands were mobilized days later; billboards rose throughout the city. Her father mocked her detractors publicly.
From that incident onward, Sara Duterte was crafted into a tough leader in her father’s mold-one who spares no words, bends rules and gets things done regardless.
Yet one year later, the only sanction imposed by the Ombudsman was a reprimand. The Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor even awarded Sara a citation for being a “defender of the poor.”
Or was she?
The urban poor group Kadamay points out that despite the rhetoric, the Soliman community still lost their homes, was relocated by the city government, eventually returned to Agdao in search of livelihood.
Demolitions continue in Davao City nearly every year. No Duterte has appeared to champion the urban poor, despite public appeals where land titles and certificates were presented to stake claims on contested properties.
READ:
<https://davaotoday.com/davao-city/still-homeless-a-year-after-saras-punch/> )
Sara punched her way to national office, winning the vice presidency in 2022 with that Duterte brand. She may not have thrown physical punches since that day, but the same behavior has manifested through the years.
It’s the same Sara from her 2016 to 2022 mayoral term who turned Facebook into a platform for rabid supporters to fuel attacks and mockery against critics, activists, journalists, lawyers and religious leaders. She tagged progressive groups as “terrorists” and “communists” whenever they raised people’s issues. It’s the same Sara who curtailed Dabawenyos’ right to protest by limiting rallies to a single area.
She clings to the myth cultivated by her father; that of a tough, pro-poor leader. But 15 years later, she didn’t punch out corruption, bad governance or dynasties. Instead, she just battered truth and democracy to enforce her family’s cult of personality.
She’s also punching her way out of accountability. But the Senate gallery is full, the streets are ready, and the people are waiting.
One question hangs in the balance: will justice arrive at last? (davaotoday.com)
