The tables have been turned sooner than later. The Duterte family, the first family in the previous administration, is not getting their way on different fronts, and their hard stance that built a populist government is seeing cracks. This week alone, hard-fought issues of the Duterte administration are being overturned bit by bit, and the people seem to be welcoming these changes.

Former senator Leila de Lima was freed on bail by the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court after six long years in detention. It was unthinkable for this to happen, even in this administration, if we understand the vendetta between De Lima and former President Rodrigo Duterte. In the events leading up to this, key witnesses in the criminal case began recanting their testimonies one by one, saying that they were merely coerced to provide false testimonies under threat to their lives.

Next, former President Duterte received his first court process, a subpoena issued by the Office of the City Prosecutor of Quezon City, in connection with the grave threats criminal case filed by incumbent Representative France Castro. The once invincible persona of PRRD is now made to appear vulnerable since he, just like the rest of us, can now be summoned by the courts. The silver lining in these is that the judiciary is undaunted and is merely carrying out its mandate in line with justice and fairness.

We cannot help but compare what is happening here to what was experienced recently by former US President Donald Trump, who has been subjected to court cases. Interestingly, Trump became even more popular after his voluntary appearances in court, which garnered extensive media exposure. This may be attributed to the fact that Trump is seen as the person to beat in next year's US presidential elections, as we see a faltering US President Joe Biden with the way the US is handling the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Former President Duterte can run for public office again in the 2025 mid-term elections. Twelve senatorial seats will be up for grabs, and anyone named Duterte has a strong and convincing chance to win. Winning a Senate seat should grant a victorious Duterte more influence politically and immunity yet again. Though the idea of running has been denied publicly, a betting man should be placing his wager on Duterte running for the Senate.

The APEC Summit is taking place this weekend in San Francisco, California, and President Bongbong Marcos Jr. left to attend it, as expected. In this meeting among world leaders, our attention should be on the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping, considering our tough relations with them now, particularly regarding the untoward incidents in the West Philippine Sea. We all know how Duterte has sided with the Chinese, a stand not reciprocated by President Marcos Jr.