The ‘Bratinella’ is a flat spare tire

Sara Duterte is not fit to be the vice president of this country. Her recent two-hour press conference made this clear to us.

Her die-hard followers will try to paint in their own echo chamber that Vice President Sara is a masterful political strategist just like her father. To others, Sara is an enigma. She is not. There is no mystery about her.

When she speaks without a script, Sara shows us her real, authentic self. In that presscon, she just gave us a glimpse into her unchecked privilege, another unfiltered performance that showed us that she is, in essence, a “bratinella” — a spoiled brat unaccustomed to being questioned or criticized.

That performance was not a display of strength but of chaos and panic.

It was amusing that Senator Koko Pimentel joked that the presscon might have been generated by AI or artificial intelligence. There was simply no intelligence to it, artificial or otherwise.

We already knew that Sara is incapable of deep thought and calculation, for the simple reason that she has no use for them. She does not need to think, learn new skills, or continue to educate herself for self-development. She does not need to work that hard because she is used to getting what she wants. She is not used to hearing no for an answer. That is simply the way she was raised.

Her “bratinella” essence is already deeply imprinted in her DNA. She is deeply addicted to it. Try to remove the privileges from her or cross her? She just related to us that she can do some real nasty things if she will have her way.

We sensed the confusion among the members of the press covering the Vice President that evening because they thought the presscon was held to clarify issues raised in Congress against her and the allegations of misuse and mismanagement of the budgets of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

Not surprisingly, what we heard was nothing but petulance and defiance. Of course, we should not expect too much from her. Sara Duterte is incapable of accepting that her position requires accountability.

She has an inflated sense of self-importance. She is deluded that her 32 million votes equates to unquestioned loyalty. Her arrogance is simply the behavior of a brat. For too long she’s lived without consequences and now struggles to face them.

As we had discussed in a previous article, the cause of all the madness in Sara is that President Marcos Jr. said no to her. She wanted more power and more privileges, but PBBM said no. She initiated a fight by trying to wrest power from Congress, Speaker Martin Romualdez said no. Sara simply cannot have her way with the President and his cousin.

Sara’s break with PBBM seems abrupt because it is outright personal. A brat reacts this way when deprived of privileges. Her emotional volatility and instability are caused by a sense of frustration that all her power moves against the President are failing. She is operating of course on the wrong premise that PBBM is weak. Well, he is not. He is showing us that he fights and can bring the fight to anyone, if necessary.

I say critics are justified in questioning whether Sara Duterte’s temperament and psychological disposition make her fit to serve as vice president. Her inability to face a crisis she started with composure and her defensive, often erratic, responses to calls for accountability reveal her fragility.

A leader should have a capacity for introspection and emotional regulation, traits that Duterte’s public appearances sorely lack. Rather than addressing issues, she seems to be on the verge of a meltdown when challenged, a clear sign of instability.

Sara Duterte is a “flat spare tire” under pressure, cracking easily. Stability is essential for leadership, but Sara lacks the calm, rational demeanor that Filipinos need from their vice president. Instead, she exhibits the traits of a “bratinella,” unprepared for the demands of the role.

The Filipino people deserve better than a spoiled brat with a hooligan mentality.