'3 Dutertes target Senate; youngest eyes Palace next' Not one, not two, but three members of the Duterte family will run for senator in the May 2025 midterm elections. And the youngest of them will later gun for the presidency in 2028, according to Vice President Sara Duterte. She spoke of the plans of her Davao City-based political household in an ambush interview on Tuesday, a week after she stepped down as education secretary. Her resignation from the Cabinet punctuated long-running speculations about her strained ties with President Marcos, who had her as his running mate in the 2022 elections under the “UniTeam” coalition. Sara Duterte said her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, and her two brothers, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte would seek seats in the Senate next year. “All of them are raring to run,” she told reporters in Cagayan de Oro, where the Office of the Vice President held a Pride Month event. “My mother told me that my brother, Baste Duterte, will run for senator and he will run in 2028 (for) president,” Sara added. As to her own political future, Sara said that upon their mother’s advice she would return as Davao City mayor in 2028. This plan, if it holds, would run counter to widely held expectations that she would target Malacañang to be Marcos’ successor. ‘Threat’ vs turncoats Consider it both a “show of force” and “a threat,” especially to former Duterte allies who “betrayed” her and her father when Marcos took over, said Jean Encinas-Franco, a political science professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. “This is a message to the President and his allies as much as it is a message to their supporters that they are not down and out, that they are still there,” Franco told the Inquirer. “Because why would they leave Davao?” she added, referring to the Duterte bailiwick. 'Backs on the wall' The family also wants to “maximize” the “Duterte brand” of politics up to 2028, which Franco said remained popular for segments of the electorate. “They want to continue the things they are enjoying, whatever it is they are having right now. So, the more the better, for more chances of winning,” Franco added. For political analyst Ronald Llamas, having three Dutertes joining the Senate derby is an act of desperation. “It could be seen as a desperate move to consolidate and prevent their sagging fortunes from totally disappearing,” Llamas said in a separate interview. “As you can see, they have their backs on the wall and their national and local political base is dissipating.” He noted that some Duterte allies in the Senate had begun to “jump” ship, same with “almost 98 percent” of their other supporters. The Dutertes, Llamas said, may have also become wary of the investigation being pursued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the former president’s brutal war on drugs, a matter currently being scrutinized by a House inquiry. “Let us not forget the elephant in the room—the ICC—which is coming soon. So what will you do? You are desperate. Disrupt everything, turn the tables so you can make a mess,” he said. “So, they are very desperate. You have to make a move that is something out of the box, you have to make something disruptive. And this is classic Duterte disruption,” Llamas added. 'Digong 2.0’ As for Sebastian’s supposed plan to run for president in 2028, this was not surprising since the incumbent Davao City mayor had long been packaged as “Digong 2.0,” Llamas added, referring to the elder Duterte by one of his nicknames. “He is the one who is very similar to Digong, more than Sara. And I won’t be surprised that all are focused on Sara while Baste will rise in the surveys and the one eventually being pushed [to run],” Llamas said. For Maria Ela Atienza, also a political science professor in UP Diliman, the Vice President’s statements would all boil down to one thing: “They do not care about parties, programs and ideologies. Every move they make is about protecting the interest of the family, to the detriment of democratic institutions.” https://newsinfo.inquirer.net

필리핀에서 현재 진행 중인 두테르테 가족의 정치적 움직임은 많은 이들에게 논란이 되고 있습니다. 이러한 움직임은 이들이 국민들한테서 더 크게 지지 받기 위해 최선을 다하려는 의미가 있다고 합니다. 다만, 이들의 행동은 또한 점차 지지를 잃고 있는 현황을 반전시키기 위한 절망적인 시도로도 해석될 수 있습니다. 또한, 국제형사재판소의 수사를 경계한 점도 주목할 만합니다. 이러한 상황에서 필리핀에서는 정당, 프로그램, 이념보다는 가족의 이익을 우선시하는 것으로 보인다고 합니다.

어제 와이프랑 장모님이 이 이야기 하시더라구요. ㅎㅎ 어느 나라나 권력을 잡는게 그렇게 달콤한가 봅니다.

‘두테르테 비판 후 6년 수감’ 필리핀 전 장관, 모든 혐의 무죄 로드리고 두테르테 전 필리핀 대통령의 ‘마약과의 전쟁’을 비판하다가 마약 관련 범죄 혐의로 수감된 필리핀 유명 정치인이 무죄 판결을 받았습니다. 로이터와 AFP 통신에 따르면 마닐라 남부 지방법원은 현지시각 24일 레일라 데 리마 전 법무장관의 3가지 혐의 중 마지막 남은 혐의에 대해 무죄를 선고했습니다. 데 리마 전 장관은 2010년에서 2015년까지 장관으로 재임할 당시 마약죄로 수감된 죄수들로부터 돈을 받고 계속 마약을 팔 수 있게 해줬다는 혐의로 기소됐으나 재판부는 검찰이 혐의를 입증할 수 없다고 판결했습니다. 두테르테 전 대통령은 취임 직후인 2016년 7월부터 전국 단위의 마약 범죄 소탕을 벌이면서 마약 복용자나 판매자가 곧바로 투항하지 않으면 경찰이 총격을 가해도 좋다는 방침을 세웠습니다. 그 결과 총 6천 명이 넘는 용의자들이 경찰이나 자경단 등에 의해 숨졌습니다. 이에 당시 상원의원이던 데 리마 전 장관은 마약과의 전쟁을 비판하고 의회에서 관련 조사에 착수했다가 2017년 오히려 마약 관련 범죄 혐의로 구속됐습니다. 이후 지난해 5월 마약상으로부터 뇌물을 받은 혐의 등 2개 혐의에 대해 무죄 판결을 받았고, 수감된 지 6년여 만인 지난해 11월 보석으로 석방됐습니다. AFP는 그의 혐의와 관련된 다수의 증인이 숨지거나 증언을 번복했다고 전했습니다. 매슈 밀러 미 국무부 대변인은 이번 판결을 환영하면서 “필리핀이 정치적 동기로 빚어진 사건들을 인권 관련 국제적 의무와 약속에 부합하는 방식으로 해결할 것을 계속해서 촉구한다”고 밝혔습니다. https://news.kbs.co.kr