In the heat of political passion, political leaders are apt to get carried away in their campaign for the voters’ support. So it has been in the ongoing campaign for candidates for senator by the pro-administration “Hugpong ng Pagbabago” and the opposition “Otso Diretso.”

However, more than the attacks and counter-attacks of the candidates , there has been an exchange of barbs between two opposing party leaders – who are not candidates themselves. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio has been leading the administration team of “Hugpong” in rallies around the country, while Vice President Leni Robredo has been campaigning for her fellow Liberal Party candidates and their allies in “Otso Diretso.”

The exchange between the two sides reached a point where they traded charges and counter-charges over honesty and integrity in public service. The Robredo camp called on the mayor to avoid issuing statements based on “fake news.” The latter called on Robredo a “fake VP” and alleged massive fraud in her election in 2016.

Into this increasingly bitter exchange, Mayor Sara’s mother stepped last Sunday. Mrs. Elizabeth Zimmerman Duterte called her daughter and told her to stop picking fights with the opposition, stop acting like a bully, and be “kind, first before anything else.” She said: “Everybody knows you are Rodrigo’s daughter. Let the people know that you are also Elizabeth’s daughter.” Mayor Sara said she was heeding her mother’s advice.

The ongoing election campaign has had its share of bitter attacks which could quickly degenerate into violence, especially when the campaign period for local government positions is underway. At the end of the election period, we can expect the Commission on Elections to come up not only with the names of elections winners but also with the names of victims of election violence.

Elections are the core of our Philippine democracy. Our officials and our people should take all possible steps to keep them free, to keep them clean, to keep them from corruption, and to keep from making permanent enemies of election foes and their families.

Ms. Elizabeth Duterte’s admonition to her daughter Mayor Sara to be kind, to not act like a bully, and to carry on the election campaign with the highest level of respect for political opponents, and Mayor Sara’s immediate decision to say yes to her mother’s appeal should help create true democratic exchange for a true and peaceful election.