Sara says she's not Duterte's favorite child but feels he has bias for her

She's not the favorite child of her father former President Rodrigo Duterte but being a lawyer sure helped, Vice President Sara Duterte said on Thursday.

In an interview on SMNI, Sara was asked if she was Duterte's favorite.

“Hindi naman, but sa tingin ko may bias siya for me dahil I am a lawyer…Filipino parents somehow, importante sa kanila kung lawyer o doktor ‘yung anak nila,” Sara said.

(No, but I think he has a bias in my favor because I am a lawyer...Filipino parents somehow, it is important to them whether their child is a lawyer or a doctor.)

Sara said that it was her father who urged her to serve the country, recalling how he made the way for her to enter San Beda University’s College of Law as a late enrollee.

As a respiratory therapy graduate, Sara said she was supposed to pursue a career in the US, but then Duterte called her and asked her to return to the Philippines.

“Sinabihan niya ko, ‘Bumalik ka dito, magtrabaho ka para sa bansa mo. Kung hindi ka babalik dito, ipapahanap kita, ipapa-deport kita diyan sa US.’ So, napaisip ako, hindi ko naman din gusto na mangyari sa buhay ko na ma-deport ako. Napaisip ako and I told him I have this Plan B,” she said in jest.

(He told me, 'Come back here, work for your country. If you don't come back here, I will find you, I will have you deported from the US.' So, I thought, I don't want to be deported, so I told him my Plan B.)

Her backup plan, she said, was entering law school as she passed the entrance exam in San Beda. She said Duterte finding a way for her to push through in law school was the reason she came back to the Philippines.

Sara also shared her fondest memory with her father, narrating how during her childhood when she didn't feel like going to school, her father would just allow her to skip class and bring instead to his office at city hall.

“Ganon kadali. Iyak ka lang tapos sabihin mo, ‘Ayaw ko pumasok,’ and then sasabihin niya na ‘Osige sige. ‘Wag ka na pumasok, sumama ka sakin doon sa opisina ko,’” Sara said.

(It was that easy. I just cried and then say that I don’t want to go to school and then he will say, 'Okay, don't go, come with me to my office instead.’)

Asked if it was not boring playing in Duterte’s office instead, Sara said, “No. Walang teacher doon na magturo sayo na, ‘Inday Sara, bakit hindi ka marunong magbasa?”

(No. There was no teacher there to ask me, 'Inday Sara, why can't you read?) —NB, GMA Integrated News