These days, it feels like everyone is in a reflective mood. Perhaps it’s the season—Lent is upon us, and with Holy Week just around the corner, it’s hard not to pause and take stock of life. Even our politicians seem to be embracing this reflective spirit.
Take, for example, Vice President Sara Duterte’s recent revelation about her renewed relationship with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte. This reconciliation happened while the former president is at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Detention Center in Scheveningen, on the outskirts of The Hague, Netherlands.
Inday Sara shared that this chapter in their lives has brought the Duterte family closer, even allowing her to establish a relationship with her stepsister, Veronica/Kitty. “This is ironic, but I have to thank Bongbong Marcos because there was forgiveness between me and PRRD for all that has happened in our lives,” she said in a live interview on April 1, 2025.
The Vice President reflected on how these visits have become the longest conversations she has ever had with her father, given that he was always busy with work while she was growing up. Despite the difficult circumstances, VP Sara considers it a blessing to talk to him daily while she was in the Hague. (The Vice President has already arrived in Manila last Sunday night, April 6, via Emirates Airlines. – Editor)
“Nabigyan kami ng time na makapag-usap as father-daughter, sad lang kay it has to happen inside the detention center but yes, thank you sa kanya (Marcos),” she said. However, VP Sara noted that if the former president were to return to Davao City as mayor, he would likely be occupied once again.
I’ve always believed that the universe works in mysterious ways, for our own good and in our best interest. As the late Lourdes Carvajal aka Inday Badiday would say: “Everything happens for a purpose. Even the falling of a leaf has a reason.”
At the recent Kapihan sa Senado, even Senate President Chiz Escudero shared his thoughts when asked to comment about the father-daughter reconciliation. He said, “Lahat ng bagay sa mundo na nangyayari ay may dahilan at may kaparaanan. Lahat ito ay naayon sa kaloob ng Diyos. Darating ang panahon tulad marahil ngayon na magbibigay ito ng kabutihan sa buhay.” It’s a perspective that aligns so well with the idea of trusting life’s process, even when it feels uncertain.
I can personally relate to this notion. There were moments in my life when I struggled to understand why certain things were happening. In 2019, for example, I decided to leave the corporate world to prioritize my physical and mental health. It wasn’t an easy decision, and I thought I’d return to work after a year. But then, the pandemic hit in 2020, and my plans were completely upended.
With little to do during my hiatus, I decided to focus on something meaningful: writing a memoir about my time in Malacañang. That’s how “Behind the Red Pen: My Adventures with FVR” came to life. The project kept me busy throughout the pandemic, and by April 2022, the book was launched—just three months before President Fidel V. Ramos passed away. It sold out by year’s end and even reached the U.S. market on Amazon as both an eBook and paperback. Looking back, I can’t help but think that if I hadn’t taken that sabbatical, or if the pandemic hadn’t happened, this book might never have existed.
Life, as unpredictable as it is, has a way of aligning things for our growth and benefit. Reflecting on these experiences now, I feel immense gratitude for the twists and turns that seemed so uncertain at the time. They’ve shaped my journey in ways I could never have planned.
As we journey into Holy Week, may we be reminded of God’s boundless love and the profound truth that even life’s challenges often come with hidden blessings.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9
