A Glimpse of her Political journey

By Angelica G. Labtic

Colorful. Beautiful. United.

This will only happen if she will lead.

On May 31, 1978, a woman who will soon lead the country was born. She was raised in Davao City by her loving parents, his excellency Hon. Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Madam Elizabeth Zimmerman.

As she grows up, she witnessed how his father lead her home town being the Municipal Mayor of Davao City. This experience inspires her to follow her father’s footsteps.

After graduating her tertiary years at San Pedro College, initially aiming to pursue a medical career, before taking up a law degree from San Sebastian College – Recoletos. She entered the political arena and was elected as Davao City’s vice mayor in 2007, before eventually being elected as the city’s mayor from 2010 until 2013, succeeding her father and becoming the youngest and the first female mayor of the city.

When her first term ended, she took a brief hiatus, returning to politics in 2016 after being elected again as Davao City mayor and was reelected in 2019. During her second stint as mayor, she initiated the Byaheng DO30 and Peace 911 programs in the city, as well as overseeing the city government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. She was also an influential figure in national politics during her father’s presidency, forming alliances with several political parties and playing a key role in the ouster of Pantaleon Alvarez as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2018.

Then, she ran for the vice presidency in 2022 under Lakas–CMD, becoming the running mate of Bongbong Marcos from the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas under the UniTeam Alliance. Their ticket won in a landslide victory, becoming the first running mate pair to win together since 2004 and the first to be elected by a majority since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1986. She became the vice president on June 30, 2022 and was inaugurated 11 days earlier in Davao City.

She is no other than her excellency, Hon. Sara Vicenta Zimmerman

Duterte-Carpio, commonly known as Inday Sara, the Vice President and DepEd secretary of the Philippines, an empowered leader