Vice President Sara Duterte maintained that her relationship with President Marcos shows “no cracks” despite reports of conflicts within the UniTeam ticket that they both headlined during the 2022 national elections.
(From left) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte during the Brigada Eskwela in Manila last Aug. 14, 2023. (Ali Vicoy/MANILA BULLETIN)
Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the 31st National Children’s Month program held at Manila Hotel on Monday, Nov. 27, the official assured that she has a good working relationship with the Chief Executive.
“Wala naman. Wala naman [cracks] (There’s none. There’s none),” she said when asked if there “cracks” in the UniTeam tandem.
The Vice President explained further that UniTeam was “a tandem during the elections.”
“Ngayon naman, ang trabaho namin is hindi na pangangampanya. Ang trabaho namin is President and Vice President (Now, our work is not to campaign. Our work is as President and Vice President),” she stressed.
“With regard to our working relationship, wala akong narinig mula kay Pangulong Marcos sa reklamo niya with regard sa trabaho namin sa Department of Education. Tuloy-tuloy lang iyong trabaho (I don’t hear any complaint from President Marcos about our work in the Department of Education. We just continue working)," Duterte, who is the Education chief in a concurrent capacity, said.
The supposed cracks in the UniTeam started to show during an alleged failed coup attempt by the Vice President’s mentor, former president and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Arroyo, against House Speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s first cousin.
This had led to Arroyo’s demotion from the senior deputy speaker position at the House of Representatives, with Duterte eventually resigning from the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) that Romualdez leads.
But the impression on a possible rift was further enhanced when the House scrapped and realigned her proposed P650-million confidential funds for 2024.
The move angered Duterte’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who accused the House speaker of orchestrating the issues against the Vice President because he was supposedly planning to run for president in 2028.
The House of Representatives also recently urged the Marcos administration, via a resolution, to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating the elder Duterte’s war on drugs campaign.
Speculations have also arisen that the Vice President could be facing impeachment raps because of the P125 million in confidential funds the Office of the Vice President spent in just 11 days in December 2022.
During the interview, Duterte hinted that she talked with Marcos before the latter left for his week-long trip to the United States in mid-November. It was not clear, however, if she was referring to the reported impeachment case against her or the rejoining of the Philippines to the ICC.
“Pagkatapos ng kanyang declaration hindi pa kami nagka-usap pero bago siya umalis papuntang ASEAN sa United States, nagka-usap kami (After his declaration, we haven’t talked yet but before her went to the ASEAN in the United States, we talked),” she shared.
Her father withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2018, and this took effect in 2019. However, Article 127 of the Rome Statute said that a state party cannot be discharged of its obligations to the statute before the withdrawal date.
Marcos recently said that there should be discussions on whether the Philippines must rejoin the ICC.