Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” 


If every Pinoy congressman or senator faithfully obeyed that, there might be no impeachment trial for Vice President Sara Duterte. 


But there’s a rumor: that the impeachment is someone’s preventive measure against her becoming president in 2028. Because that someone fears she’d win if she runs. And if she wins, will she revive her father’s Tokhang and war on drugs? If she does, will that mean huge losses for drug lords? Will people who use drugs go back into hiding, much like what happened during her father’s term? 


“So many questions, but the answers are so few,” as the Side A song goes. 


The narrative about then-President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs depends on who’s talking. His fans will defend it—the country was peaceful then, they say, with drug users scared of Tokhang. His non-fans and human rights groups will say it was the worst of times: thousands dead, due process sidelined, and a PR team’s worst nightmare in a president who had no filter and didn’t mince words. 


It can be confusing. What kind of leader does the Pinoy want? Or should the question be: What kind of leader does the Pinoy deserve? Let’s see. A dictator like Ferdinand Marcos Sr.? A reluctant housewife-turned-icon like Cory Aquino, who critics claimed leaned heavily on advisers, including her brother? A military man like Fidel Ramos, one of the 1986 People Power heroes? A movie star like Erap Estrada, impeached and replaced by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo? A presidential daughter like Arroyo? A presidential son like Noynoy Aquino? A city mayor turned president like Rodrigo Duterte? A dictator’s son like PBBM? 


Try counting the presidents after Marcos Sr. In case you haven’t noticed, they’re the Lucky Seven. Depending on how the Pinoy defines “lucky”—and whether he actually felt lucky during each of those seven presidencies. 


So, ano ba talaga, Kuya? Sino ba ang dasurv na dasurv mo na president? 


The Duterte fan naturally wants another Duterte in 2028. For him, six years under the family patriarch wasn’t enough to finish the country’s drug problem. Thus, the clamor for VP Sara to continue her father’s legacy. 


But there’s this lingering perception: a bias against a presidential candidate from Mindanao. When someone mentions the “probinsiya” hometown of his household staff, it usually means Visayas or Mindanao. Okay, maybe a Luzon province too. 


Reality bites. Many Bisaya have felt the sting of being stereotyped—provincial, “promdi,” less-than—sometimes just for the accent. 


Even VP Sara adjusts her Tagalog carefully in interviews. Many Bisaya think in Bisaya first, then translate for a national audience—from Aparri to Jolo. Because in this country, fluency in Tagalog still sounds like competence, and “national” still sounds like Manila. 


And maybe that’s the real impeachment trial: not just of Sara Duterte, but of the idea that a Mindanaoan can lead without apology, without translation, without having to prove she’s “presidential enough” for Luzon.