About VPs Leni, Sara

Since the visit of President Bongbong Marcos to former Vice President Leni Robredo, the political scenario has radically changed, along with the usual gossip and propaganda.

Marcos came with an offering: P500 million in taxpayer money from what was apparently unprogrammed funds.

The gargantuan amount was meant to refurbish the Jesse Robredo Coliseum, as the Palace propagandists want people to believe that it would assuage the rage of the nation already at the edge of their anger from the multibillion-peso grand corruption under the Marcos administration.

Leni accepted the offering with her usual winsome smile, followed by a visit to Malacañang, a signal of the marriage of two political forces — the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, chaired by Bongbong Marcos and the “Pinklawan,” which is another word for Liberal Party.

Risa Hontiveros, the preferred candidate of putschist Antonio Trillanes, was on Pag-asa Island, performing her stage show, when Marcos was wooing Leni. She was quite ebullient earlier as she was presented by the group that presents itself as the ‘‘Opposition” when, by their words and actions, they are actually serving as a prop of the feeble Marcos administration. She now plays second fiddle.

But let us look at who Leni and Sara are in terms of their respective political credentials and turf.

Leni was Vice President and so is Sara. Both are lawyers. Sara served as mayor of Davao City while Leni is currently the mayor of Naga City. Leni defeated Bongbong Marcos by the skin of her teeth in the 2016 vice presidential race; Sara helped make BBM president by securing over 16 million votes.

Let’s see how the two performed in terms of their respective cities’ growth. Davao City’s 7.9-percent GDP growth rate was quite impressive, making it a major contributor to the Philippines’ GDP. Naga City is also experiencing steady economic growth, driven by commerce, industry, and services, yet little is written or heard about its economic performance.

Sara left the mayoral post in 2016 with an impressive 9-percent economic growth in Davao City, which later settled at around 8 percent. Leni is a neophyte mayor, and under her maybe Naga could catch up.

Davao City is the eighth richest city in the country, according to recent Commission on Audit (CoA) data. In the 2023–2024 reports, “the city recorded P37.4 billion in assets, making it one of the wealthiest local government units outside of Metro Manila and a dominant economic hub in Mindanao.”

Here’s additional data on the cities of Naga and Davao.

Naga has an area of approximately 84.48 square kilometers and a population of around 210,545. Davao has a total land area of 2,443.61 square kilometers and is the largest city in the Philippines. It is four times larger than Metro Manila. Its population is around 2,077,000 and continues to grow.

Some data in favor of Davao City follows:

Numbeo’s quality of life index in Southeast Asia places Davao City fourth in the top league, alongside Singapore, Chiang Mai and Kuala Lumpur. The city has been consistently declared the most peaceful and livable in the Philippines. Recently, it was named the country’s top tourist destination, supported by direct flights from Singapore, Qatar, China and soon Japan.

The progressive development of local government units is often attributed to the leadership style of its leader. Leaders earn public trust and approval. Political surveys conducted by all survey firms in the country have always placed VP Sara Duterte at the top.

In an online poll conducted by DZRH “The Situation Report,” Sara garnered 97.6 percent against Risa Hontiveros’ 2.2 percent and Jonvic Remulla, 0.2 percent.

Leni Robredo is being identified with the President. Bongbong Marcos will not be an any different story.