I first heard the term Palace Princess when I was talking to a person I cannot name. I would have to sign a non-disclosure agreement or officially acknowledge that this person mentioned said subject not for me to write about it, but merely to share thoughts and views on the matter.
In recent months, this person and I have been tracking seemingly targeted attacks against prominent female political figures, who have a glaring common denominator. All three are daughters of past Presidents of the Philippine Republic, who each, as my source has put it, “have secured their own mandates.”
When Corazon C. Aquino became president in 1986, despite my life changing drastically while in exile with my family in the US, I took some consolation from the fact that a woman—and a housewife at that—had become president of the country. I felt a glimmer of joy for my mom, and all the other Filipino housewives who have been relegated to being the light of their own individual influential spheres. One of them becoming president lent some importance to the role relegated to the background, behind the husband who was generally seen as the main breadwinner and head of the family. Ironically, Cory becoming president started a more obtuse shift in the Judeo-Christian paradigm of the traditional roles women played or could play and their supposed capabilities in Philippine society.
But before women become mothers, they were daughters first. Of late, these three former first daughters of the republic have been drawing flak. Vice President and concurrent Education Department head Sara Duterte is the daughter of the country’s 16th President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (PRRD). She had been accused of misusing her department’s confidential fund, which led Congress to remove Sara’s ₱650-million confidential fund request (₱500 million for the Office of the Vice-President and ₱150million for the Department of Education) in the 2024 General Appropriations budget, despite lack of evidence of the said misuse.
This week we saw the ouster of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), the 14th President and now congresswoman for Pampanga, as deputy speaker of the House of Representatives following the House leadership’s announcement it would rid the chamber of members “who would malign the House.” Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzalez Jr accused PRRD of maligning the House when the former president described the Lower House as “the rottenest institution.” GMA is the daughter of the ninth President of the Republic, Diosdado P. Macapagal. If you recall, GMA was in favor of then presidential contender Duterte’s campaign in 2016 and when PRRD was president GMA was speaker of the House of Representatives. It has been said that this political association and alliance, as much personal as political, go way back. Political commentators have viewed this move against another powerful PRRD ally as a means to erode the power and influence of PRRD within the government and the general population.
I mention this third first daughter now since quite recently Senator Imee Romualdez Marcos, daughter of the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos (PFEM), the 10th and 11th president of the republic, has come out with an official statement on her full support of PRRD in reaction to moves made to undermine the influence of PRRD supporters in the lower house, “…Noong 2015, ako ang una at nag-iisang gobernadorang nagdeklara ng suporta para kay pangulong Duterte, at kahit ako ang mag-isang matira, maninindigan ako para sa kanya (In 2015, l was the first and only female governor to declare support for President Duterte and, if I should be the last one to do so, I’d stand by him)…” adding, “Through thick and thin, I’ll stick with the Dutertes.” Seeing patterns in the political attacks on the two palace princesses mentioned above, is this first daughter the next subject of attack?
PRDD is a known admirer of the senator’s father PFEM. Under PRRD’s residency, PFEM was allowed to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in 2016. PRRD was among the first public officials to visit the devastated island of Leyte after Typhoon Yolanda hit the island in 2013. The former president is originally from Maasin, Leyte. He moved to Davao as a child.
It has been 10 years since super typhoon Yolanda devastated the islands of Leyte and Samar. The memories of that day and the days, months, and years after still bring a tightness to my chest. I think everyone knew that it was a super typhoon and it would be bad, but no one could have fathomed it was going to be as bad as it was.
I remember one of my first cousins creating a text message group for the family for updates on missing family members, rescue and relief operations, and the like. The first few queries where about the whereabouts of my cousins in Tacloban, particularly then Mayor Alfred Romualdez, his wife Kring, and their two children Sofia and Diana. There was a report we had lost Kring and the girls and another cousin, along with one of his daughters and granddaughter. Later Kring and the girls were found and, after three days, our other cousin was located kilometers away from his home as he was swept out to sea.
The most difficult and frustrating part were the weeks of desperation for survivors as reported in our text group, from relatives on the ground trying to distribute goods to survivors and tales of all the dead being found everywhere. Distribution of goods were curtailed by seemingly insensitive and bureaucratic requirements like resident certificates from individuals who had lost their entire homes, written authority to move goods between and among barangays, forcing a group to smuggle goods in body bags so that much needed supplies could cross “barangay borders” and reach survivors. Some even had to construct makeshift piers on private beaches, so relief goods could be unloaded after government stopped the unloading of relief goods at the port. There were some visiting government officials calling local law enforcers cowards and selfish for not reporting for work to look for missing loved ones. Who can forget the most infamous quote of them all? When then Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas pointed out to Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez, “You are a Romualdez, the President is an Aquino,” it was all caught on tape. I grow emotional just thinking about that as one can’t help entertain thoughts that the Leytanos/Taclobanons could have been punished because the island was associated with the Romualdez family, a known political adversary of the Aquinos? Today, that Roxas is being described as one who had “risked his life in Yolanda” boggles the mind. I know a lot of people who really risked their lives and stayed with the Taclobanons before, during, and after—the survivors themselves, among them Mayor Alfred.
Alfred has served as the mayor of Tacloban City a number of times, including now. He is known for his role in the city’s post-Yolanda recovery efforts. Under his leadership, the city worked on rebuilding and executing rehabilitation projects to help residents get back on their feet.
Since Yolanda, the Philippines has implemented significant policy changes in preparation for future disasters.