First of a series

MASS and social media have recently been inundated by a slew of news, "tsismis" and fake news involving Filipino women of diverse status, political color, different persuasions and atypical motivations. But these women have several distinctive traits in common. The first cluster is strong-willed and wields political influence either by fiat as occupying a singularly powerful elective post, as in Vice President Sara Duterte, or the first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, unelected, nonetheless in a position of vast influence and potential for manipulation by virtue of being married to a perceived weak spouse. Some of these women maneuver around the periphery of power and are themselves powerful but refuse to brandish the same, like Sen. Imee Marcos, in whom many among those who lived and survived the martial law regime of the dictator see the traits of the father. For bad or good, those nostalgic for the old regime regret the Filipino voter's choice of the wrong Marcos. And then there are women who have been unseated from power through the whims of dysfunctional government institutions like the fugitive and suspected Chinese sleeper agent Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac.

The other category is women who, by their notoriety and their strategic personal relations, took advantage of their 15 minutes of fame, attempting to tear to shreds the reputations of the powerful and the mighty as in the disgruntled paramour revealing juicy tidbits about her former Davao politico-businessman lover who has long been removed from power and tale-telling distasteful exposés about the Malacañang "polvoron"-snorting crowd. And these anecdotes are given credence through female internet personalities who rule social media, providing pulpits through their YouTube video blogs. These "Marites" with thousands of followers lap up any scraps of gossip thrown their way, propelling the same to go viral. This is gossip in the fringes providing entertainment to the inane. These women of the second cluster are not the subjects of this column ("The spy and the paramour," The Manila Times, Aug. 14, 2024).

Sara

The vice president appeared before the House Committee on Appropriations hearings recently to do two simple things: defend the budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and respond to queries on the expenditures of the Department of Education from which she recently resigned — in disgust. She did neither, telegraphing instead to the honorable members of the budget committee what she really thought of them.

What came out in the hearing was that she disbursed her confidential fund of P125 million in just 11 days, P35 million on the purchase of supplies and P3.5 million for chairs, tables and computers; another P40 million for the provision of medical and food aid. On top of these, she has caused the publication of a children's book, which she purportedly authored to the tune of P10 million for 200,000 copies — while she was education secretary.

The catch here is that all these are disallowed by the Commission on Audit (CoA). And the book was reportedly plagiarized from a US author and used by Sara as campaign material. It is not so much the amounts spent but her attitude when asked to explain and her demeanor at the hearings showing her disdain for her inquisitors.

Let me quote one of her critics: "Sara Duterte, I believe, is sick of a narcissistic personality disorder, as others in her family are. When she went to the House (August 27 budget hearing), she knew it would put her to shame. Her game plan fits the narcissist's playbook to a T: she will control the interpellations so that she can dodge the most threatening questions. Once in control of the process, she can throw squid tactics so as to transfer blame..." (Antonio J. Montalvan 2nd, Vera Files).

Sara's behavior by any standard was appalling, especially for one who has been installed by millions of Filipinos to the second highest office of the land. On the other hand, she had compelling reasons to behave that way as the House of Representatives was enemy territory, bastion of the allies of the Marcos dynasty. Sara was reacting to the despicable behavior of a female committee member, "Madame Chair" Stella Luz Quimbo, a former lowly academic who is herself now being roasted on social media for her tasteless display of very expensive branded luxury watches and bags. A side story to the hearings yet relevant. The hearings are ostensibly structured to scrutinize all branches of government to ensure public monies are spent for the public good. Incongruently, corruption by an inquisitor has gone viral.

But this modern-day Spanish Inquisition of an inquiry was obviously designed to politically crucify Sara, being the most capable Duterte to dislodge the Marcoses from their dynastical proclivities. And the virtual Torquemada pulls the strings unseen from behind — the self-proclaimed heir to the Marcos dynasty, Martin Romualdez. A summary of three articles from The Manila Times is excerpted to put things in proper perspective. ("Clash of dynasties," "The self-appointed heir, heiress," "We are being played," TMT, March 6 and 13; and April 27.)

A capricious pact

Since the dissolution of the "UniTeam" of the Marcos-Duterte political dynasties forged in 2022, Sara, who could have won the presidency but gave way to BBM as his VP and with her inclusion in the Marcos administration and promises of prestigious and important positions, assumed the cloak of heiress-apparent. But this tenuous partnership was never meant to last one presidential cycle. The Marcos family, in power for decades and booted out of power and in exile for decades more since 1986, saw the need to rehabilitate the patriarch's image as Philippine dictator during his martial law regime — and continue the Marcos legacy of "Ang Bagong Lipunan." It was obvious that BBM's watch of six- years may not be enough. Former president Duterte foresaw this in 2022 and vehemently objected to naïve daughter Sara running as Marcos' VP — allowing BBM to use the Duterte prestige to propel the Marcoses back to power.

Thus, the break came at an Apollo Quiboloy Maisug prayer rally on Feb. 21, 2024, when the Dutertes clamored for BBM, first lady Liza, and the surrogate heir Speaker Martin Romualdez to step down from their posts, with Deegong describing BBM as "bangag" — a dope addict. While the unthinking male Dutertes were disparaging the Malacañang occupants, Sara was on the sidelines, lending some sort of credence and approbation by her presence and silence. This did not sit well with the first lady.

This was just the start of a series of Pastor Quiboloy-sponsored Philippine-wide "Maisug" prayer rallies that were designed to erode the credibility of the regime. At first, BBM's reaction to the personal slanders was dismissed as the "fentanyl-induced" ravings of the former president. But these persistent assaults echoed by the allies of the Deegong were deemed to be the ultimate in lese majeste. With the tame and weak reaction of the President defending the honor of the family, the first lady Liza stepped in and made her move.

Next week:
The woman DDS love to hate