Sara Duterte is a woman caught in the middle of a political tug-of-war. Once celebrated as the feisty “country girl” from Davao who could throw a mean punch and possibly some heavy punches in the political ring, she’s now finding herself standing on increasingly shaky ground.

From Cabinet member to contender for the country’s highest office, it seems like the very machinery that catapulted her into the limelight is now eating away at her political currency.

Once an instrumental cog in the UniTeam’s ascendancy, Sara Duterte was the glue that held together the frayed edges of the alliance that led to Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s victory. Daughter of a former president, with her father’s charm (or something like it), her future seemed assured — until she decided to light a fire and burn down her bridges with the Marcos administration by resigning as DepEd Secretary. Oh, how the tides have turned.

This wasn’t just any resignation; it was a declaration of independence, akin to a teen flipping the bird at their parents as they storm out of the house, with a mix of bravado and the certainty that the fridge would still be stocked when they returned. But, alas, the fridge isn’t restocking itself.

Now, Sara finds herself straddling two colossal forces: the Marcos administration and her family’s legacy. The Duterte name, once a force of political gravity, seems to be losing some of its pull, while Marcos Jr., with his considerably more sophisticated network, is navigating his presidency without much reliance on the Duterte brand.

Sara’s resignation, instead of showing her strength and independence, has left her in the awkward position of no longer having a seat at the big kids’ table. A fine mess, indeed.

One would think that Sara might have had the foresight to keep her head down and play the long game—after all, politics is a marathon, not a sprint, and every runner knows not to trip themselves before they reach the finish line.

But this is Sara Duterte we’re talking about, and when she’s not resigning from Cabinets, she’s busy accusing the administration of “overkill” in the serving of a warrant of arrest to a certain embattled pastor.

It’s a bold move, to be sure, but one that raises eyebrows. What’s the endgame here? Is Sara positioning herself as a champion of civil liberties, or is she stirring the pot just to see what floats to the surface? If so, it’s working. Every move she makes ripples across the political landscape, and while not everyone understands her strategy, one thing is for sure — Sara Duterte is not going to be a wallflower at this dance. She’s stomping on toes and hoping that the music doesn’t stop before she grabs a decent partner.

Her critics will say that this strategy is akin to playing political roulette. Sara seems to be gambling that by going after the Marcos administration on this “overkill” issue, she will endear herself to a segment of the population that still clings to the Duterte name with the same fervor they do their favorite pair of rubber slippers. And maybe that’s true. Maybe she’s counting on the nostalgia of Duterte supporters, the populist anger, and the hope that when the dust settles, she’ll have positioned herself as the last “clean” option for 2028.

Despite saying that she’s not casting a moist eye on the presidency, Sara Duterte still has some bridges to cross — or build, depending on how her next few moves play out. She will need more than just the Duterte name to wend her way through the maze of allegiances, controversies, and power plays that characterize Philippine politics.

Whether she realizes it or not, Sara’s political metamorphosis is in full swing. She’s no longer the “country girl” riding high on her father’s coattails. Now she has to prove that she has what it takes to stand on her own, to navigate the political waters without the safety net of Duterte Senior or the UniTeam’s influence.

The real question is: Does she have the grit, the strategy, and, dare we say, the finesse to do it?

e-mail:mannyangeles27@gmail.com