VICE President Sara Duterte was all praises for President Marcos Jr. yesterday as they marked their first year in office.
Duterte, who resigned recently from the ruling Lakas-CMD party after quarrelling with the President’s cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, congratulated the Chief Executive for what she said was his effective leadership.
“Binabati ko po si Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sa matagumpay nitong pamumuno sa ating bansa (I congratulate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for successfully leading our country),” she said in a statement. “Makalipas ang isang taon, napatunayan ni Apo BBM ang determinasyon ng pamahalaan na tuparin ang mga naging pangako nito sa mga Pilipino noong eleksyon (After a year, Apo BBM was able to prove the government’s determination to make good on its promises to Filipinos in the last elections).”
Duterte said the public can see the President’s “perseverance and hard work” to continue the achievements of the previous administration, led by her father Rodrigo Duterte.
Moreover, she said, the administration has also been introducing new programs and projects to uplift people’s lives.
The Vice President said she was elated that she became a part of the Marcos Jr. administration, saying it is a government focused on nation-building, strengthening economic growth, creating more jobs and opportunities to fight poverty; supporting the agriculture and fisheries sectors and the whole labor force; building more infrastructure; improving the quality of education; and forging closer diplomatic ties with other countries.
Duterte thanked the President for his support for the programs of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) which she also heads as the concurrent Education secretary.
She called on the public to continue supporting the administration. “Sana ay mas palakasin pa natin ang ating pagkakaisa, at gamitin natin itong sandata upang malampasan ang mga darating na hamon sa atin bilang isang bansa (I hope that we strengthen our unity even more and use it as weapon to hurdle the challenges we’re facing as a nation.”
The statement came in the wake of calls for the Vice President to adhere to the administration’s push for national unity by ending her political rift with Romualdez whose ouster was allegedly planned by Duterte’s close ally, former president and now deputy speaker Gloria Arroyo. Arroyo has denied plotting to oust Romualdez.
Even amid the political bickering she was embroiled in, Duterte has been making it clear she remains supportive of the President and his administration.
Marcos Jr. ran and won on a platform of unity with Duterte who resigned from the ruling party in May following the House leadership’s move to strip Arroyo of her “senior” deputy speaker title for allegedly attempting to oust Romualdez.
Lakas-CMD has Romualdez as president while Arroyo is chairman emeritus,
Duterte is a known ally of Arroyo who managed to pull off a coup in the 18th Congress against then-Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, with the help of the then Davao City mayor and presidential daughter.
Marcos has said he understood Duterte’s decision to resign, noting she has “too much work to do.”
RETURN OF DECENCY
Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said the one thing good about Marcos Jr.’s ascension to power is the return of decency in public office, citing the way the President carries himself in public.
The older Duterte had been criticized for hurling expletives in public and other forms of unpresidential conduct.
Barzaga, a stalwart of the National Unity Party (NUP) and chairman of the House committee on natural resources, said Marcos “has always comported himself with dignity, exuding confidence.”
“The President has been a consummate professional who has never let emotions get the better of him,” he said. “I like how the President carries himself. He was humble enough to give himself an ‘incomplete’ grade in his first year while being firm in saying that it’s best to take things in stride as the country is getting back on its feet post-pandemic.”
The senior administration lawmaker said the President “provided the country with a steady and reliable leadership in the face of difficult challenges.”
Camarines Rep. Gabriel Bordado Jr. (Liberal Party), a member of the minority bloc, lauded the President for the country’s economic growth which economic managers recently projected would be the highest in Southeast Asia for 2023 at 6.0 percent.
Bordado also urged the President to focus on improving the agriculture sector, especially since Marcos has admitted that he still needs to pursue game-changing reforms as the concurrent Agriculture secretary.
“Our economy will remain unstable for as long as food security is not achieved. We can only stabilize commodity prices if problems in the agricultural sector are properly addressed,” Bordado said.
