VICE President Sara Duterte yesterday brushed off First Lady Louise “Liza” Marcos’ sentiments, saying those have nothing to do with her position as the country’s second highest elected official.
Reacting to the First Lady’s recent statements, Duterte said she would prefer to talk with President “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself.
The First Lady recently said she was hurt when the Vice President laughed after former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Vice President’s father, called her husband a drug addict.
The Vice President, in a video posted on Facebook, said the First Lady has the right to be upset.
“Bilang tao, karapatan ni Unang Ginang Liza Marcos para makaramdam ng sama ng loob at galit. Subalit ang kaniyang personal na damdamin ay walang kinalaman sa aking mandato bilang opisyal ng pamahalaan (As a human being, First Lady Liza Marcos is entitled to feel upset and angry. However, her personal feelings has nothing to do with my mandate as a government official).”
Duterte, who is besieged by calls to resign as concurrent Education secretary for the apparent falling out between her family and the First Family, said she would rather seek a private dialogue with the President to resolve the issue.
“Upang makausad tayo, iiwan na natin sa isang pribadong pag-uusap sa pagitan lamang namin ni Pangulong ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. ang mga susunod na hakbang (So we can move forward, we’ll leave the next steps to a private conversation with President ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.),” she said.
The First Lady, in an interview with broadcaster Anthony Taberna last week, said the Vice President crossed the line when she laughed when her father called the President an addict, during a prayer rally in Davao City, which the Vice President attended.
“Bad shot na iyan (VP) sa akin. I mean for me, for me nasaktan ako because my husband will do everything to protect you. You ran together (during the 2022 presidential elections), di ba? Sama-sama tayong babangon muli. Pupunta ka sa rally, tatawagin iyung presidente mong bangag, di ba, you’re going to laugh, tama ba yun? even (former vice president) Leni (Robredo) never did that (She is already a bad shot to me. I mean for me, for me, I was hurt because my husband will do everything to protect you. You ran together, didn’t you? Together we will rise again. You attended a rally where your president is called an addict, you’re going to laugh, is that right? even Leni never did that),” Araneta-Marcos said.
The PNP has already said it has not seen any document or a list which would show that the Chief Executive is involved in illegal drugs.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua, who earlier urged the Vice President to leave the Marcos Cabinet, said the First Lady’s feelings towards the Vice President “are about Sara’s character and integrity as a supposed member of the administration and as a public servant.”
“In public service, character and integrity are everything, so those feelings of the First Lady are not mere personal matters that can be cast aside as if they had no weight or importance,” he said in a statement.
“How can VP Sara faithfully serve the people when she can’t wholeheartedly support the President, who is supposed to be her partner?” he said in Filipino.
The administration lawmaker earlier slammed the Vice President for being passive in the face of the barrage of verbal attacks on the President by her family.
“Her family unleashed a barrage of insults and attacks directly to the President, and yet she does nothing and is still enjoying the perks of being part of the official family,” he said. “She should draw the line instead of pretending to be a full partner of the President.”
Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT), a member of the militant Makabayan bloc, said the Vice President’s decision to remain in the Cabinet has become “untenable” or her position as Education secretary “can no longer be defended.”
“First is the issue of the use of confidential funds and the issue of incompetence because until now learning crisis is still there, the learning gap, after two years in DepEd (Department of Education), it still wasn’t solved. And then, of course, third is she and her running mate, her president, President Marcos Jr., don’t seem to see eye to eye on many issues,” she said.
It was observed during recent several official functions, including departure ceremonies, that the First Lady would ignore the Vice President or avoid exchanging greetings with her, unlike in the past where they would sit together, chat, or even buss each other on the cheek.
The Vice President, in the video, said the government has to focus on solving country’s pressing problems like rising food prices, looming shortage of water and power supplies, illegal drugs, criminality and insurgency.
She did not say anything about China’s growing aggression in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
The Vice President first had a falling out last year with the President’s first cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, after she sided with former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo who was removed by the House leadership as senior deputy speaker for allegedly plotting a coup against Romualdez.
This younger Duterte’s relationship with Romualdez, who was her campaign manager in the 2022 national elections, even worsened after her father repeatedly lambasted the Speaker and the whole House leadership for stripping his daughter of confidential and intelligence funds, to realign the funds to the Philippine Coast Guard and other agencies at the forefront of defending the country’s territorial integrity in the WPS in the South China Sea.
The Dutertes are known to be the staunchest allies of the Chinese government in the country despite the bullying experienced by their fellow Filipinos in the WPS.
The Vice President has continued to remain silent on China’s aggression instead of joining the President in denouncing its illegal activities.
