It is only necessary to denounce antidemocracy. But to do this more convincingly, we need to know what and who exactly we are up against.

Sara Duterte is undeniably one of the country’s rising political stars, who knows how to tap into the imaginations of the publics that she wishes to identify with. A social media-savvy leader, she continues to master the art of leaving a personal touch on things she says to the ordinary, especially by taking selfies with them.

We need to talk about Sara, the daughter of the incumbent president, former mayor of Davao City who punched a sheriff in front of national televised news, and now vice-presidential frontrunner of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. 

As Nicole Curato pointedly observed during the early Duterte presidency, we need to broaden our horizon in understanding the wider context that gives way to a leader’s national rise to power. 

While we certainly do not want to predict the victorious vice-presidential bid of Sara (although there are narrow signs that appear to favor her candidacy), I take Curato’s observation in a quite less ambitious fashion and say that Sara, whether she wins or otherwise this year, will continue to be in the national political limelight and attract followers of various political leanings in days to come.

We need to know more about the styles and tactics as well as narratives espoused by the leader, so we know what to expose.

For one, who is Sara on YouTube?

Unlike Facebook, YouTube better captures the styles of leaders and sentiments of the publics through video blogs or vlogging. Although commercial celebrities and social media influencers are considered the ambassadors of vlogging, politicians are slowly immersing themselves in such platform to reach out to the young and early middle-aged voters amid the health pandemic.

Launched in December 2021, Sara’s channel “Inday Sara Duterte” has so far garnered over 1.4 million views, 104,000 subscribers, and uploaded 55 videos. Compared with Bongbong Marcos’ channel since November 2009 with 85 million views and 1.84 million subscribers, Sara’s may easily far exceed Marcos’ in 12 years’ time (with 102 million views and 7.4 million subscribers).

On YouTube, Sara uses symbols and narratives to appeal to the ordinary, including the marginalized and indigent women, children, farmers, and persons with disability, while at the same time instilling fundamental beliefs that could define her sense of national governance by taking selfies with the military personnel on the ground and revering the image of the Philippine flag. Familiar with “devout” Filipino practices, Sara is constantly shown to be praying in a church, in front of a religious image, and in the streets.

Unlike Mr. Duterte, Sara does not usually bank on the rhetoric of machismo and hostility, with the exception of course of the sheriff-punching incident. But like her father, Sara packages herself as someone who shows respect to the ordinary by using po and opo when talking to the elderly and addressing them as ma’am and sir in front of the camera. Unlike other Philippine leaders, Sara, like Mr. Duterte, does not mind bowing in front of her audience and saying sorry to others whenever they are depressed.

In her first vlog, Sara’s campaign team presumably found a crying mother in Quezon City after failing to get a selfie with Sara. The team asked: “Bakit kayo naluha? (Why did you cry?),” with the mother explaining “Pinangarap kong makita si Inday eh. Hindi niya kami sinilip eh (I’ve dreamt of seeing Inday in person. She didn’t look our way).” The team then invited the mother to come near Sara, who gently grabbed her phone and started taking selfies with her. The mother told Sara: “Kanina pa po ako naghihintay sa ’yo (I have been waiting to see you),” with Sara responding, “Ay sorry Ma’am.” Before Sara and the team left, she handed her a green jacket. And these lines ensued: “May pagkakataong pwede tayong magpasaya ng ating kapwa. Kahit sa simpleng paraan lang. Sikaping gawin ito parati (There are times when we can make others happy. Even in simple ways. Let us strive to do this always).” The vlog then ended with the team’s social media mantra: “Mahalin natin ang Pilipinas (Let us love the Philippines).”

Sara also showcases the success of her programs in Davao by telling the real-life stories of her constituents who are now reaping the fruit of the leader’s labor. She partly identifies with them through the name association of “Inday,” a common reference to a girl who is dear to someone and is used to project closeness in most parts of Central and to a large extent Southern Philippines.

In other vlogs, the different experiences of a woman with disability, woman firefighter, and members of the LGBTQ+ communities in Davao are featured as Indays themselves, who are one with Inday Sara. One video ends with various photo images of Sara with the ordinary, accompanied by the text: “Inday ng Davao. Inday ng Buhay mo” (Inday of Davao. Inday of your Life), followed by “Inday will always love you.” 

With the narratives of the ordinary (we are all Inday), religiosity (praying), patriotism (Philippine flag), and military rule (selfies with the military), Sara is consolidating a digital persona representative of the aggrieved publics. While these accounts are sourced from YouTube alone, they nevertheless give us a picture of what politicians are after these days.

We must be able to expand our sense of contemporary politics that are largely but not exclusively dependent upon the mediated style of image-building, as this could help us dispel the myths of political unity and strongman-military leadership.

There is no question that Sara, judging at least from her social media presence and campaign strategy, is a rising politician that we must keep an eye on. 

But lest we forget, she is above all a Duterte. – Rappler.com

Jefferson Lyndon D. Ragragio is an assistant professor at the College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños. He has a PhD in media studies from Hong Kong Baptist University. He tweets @JeffRagragio.