In a cryptic continuation of her earlier statement about her offices’ controversial confidential funds, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday, Oct. 18, asked her supporters to beware of their friends.
Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte (Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook)
In a four-minute video posted on her Facebook page, the Vice President read the same statement she released earlier, but added a warning to her supporters about knowing who their real friends are.
“Huwag kayong sumama sa anumang uri ng pang-aapi. Sa halip, sa mga oras ng kagipitan, magmasid at magkilala kung sino ang mga tunay na mga kaibigan na nasa inyong tabi (Don’t join whatever form of oppression. Instead, in times of distress, look around and know who your true friends are),” she said.
While she did not drop names, Duterte is in the midst of the most challenging era of her political life, having been stripped off by the House of Representatives of her proposed confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), which she heads in a concurrent capacity.
This surprise move is believed to show the cracks of her Uniteam tandem with President Marcos after she earlier took former president and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Arroyo’s side when she reportedly tried to stage a coup against the President’s cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The Speaker stood as the Vice President’s campaign manager in 2022, and was once credited for persuading her to run as the country’s No. 2, leaving behind Davao City’s mayoralty race to her brother.
But in her video message, Duterte went sentimental and told her supporters that there is a time for everything.
“Lahat ng bagay sa mundo ay may kanya-kanyang panahon (All things in life have their own time),” the official added.
She then went on to list a number of things—life, death, sadness, happiness, love, anger, war, and peace, among others—that she believed to have their own time.
These, she said, were based on the Book of Ecclesiastes, which talked about how people must respond to different times in their lives.
“Sa bawat yugto ng ating buhay, mahalaga na piliin natin ang kabutihan, pagkakaunawaan, at pagkakaisa. Sa bawat panahon, maging matatag tayo sa pagharap sa hamon at maging handa sa pagtanggap ng pagbabago (In every chapter of our lives, it’s important to choose goodness, understanding, and unity. Every time, let us be strong in facing challenges and be prepared to accept changes),” Duterte added.
In her earlier statement, she said it was too early for politicking since the next elections are still far.
She also called for unity and thanked her supporters for the green ribbon with the word “Sara” they posted on their social media accounts.
“Hinihikayat ko ang bawat isa sa inyo na tutukan ang paghahanda sa darating na panahon ng taghirap lalo na sa patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng pagkain at iba pang bilihin (I am encouraging each of you to focus on preparing for future difficulties especially in the continuous rise of the prices of food and other commodities),” the statement read.
Aside from a recent speech wherein she called critics of her offices’ confidential funds “enemy of the state,” this was the second time she talked about the issues thrown against her.
It also came after her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, lambasted her critics and called out the House of Representatives, including House Speaker Martin Romualdez, for the attacks against the Vice President.
The former chief executive alleged that Romualdez wanted to run as president.
Earlier, the House appropriations committee announced that it is stripping Duterte’s combined P650-million—P500 million for the OVP and P150 million for DepEd—proposed confidential funds for 2024.