While there may be no strict legal impediments to a “Duterte-Duterte” tandem (Sara Duterte for President and Rodrigo Duterte for Vice-President) in the 2022 elections, this perilous combination would result to the circumvention of constitutional prohibitions and the perpetration of patent unethical indiscretions.

The constitutional ban against an incumbent president running for reelection after the expiration of his single six-year term is designed to prohibit the perpetuation of presidential powers in one person.

This prohibition will be conveniently circumvented considering the ascendancy of a father over his daughter so much so that effectively a Vice President Rodrigo Duterte can continue to wield presidential powers at will.

Moreover, in the event that the projected Sara Duterte presidency is vacated by choice, fortuitous event, or impeachment, a Vice President Rodrigo Duterte would succeed as President, thereby nullifying the constitutional prohibition.

The local politics in Davao City which has seen Sara Duterte as Mayor and Rodrigo Duterte as Vice Mayor should not be replicated nationwide because the conjugal dictatorship of the Marcos martial law regime would be resurrected as a familial hegemony. 

EDCEL C. LAGMAN