Vice President Sara Duterte claimed that House Speaker Martin Romualdez is pushing to amend the Constitution because it’s the only way that he could become president.
Vice President Sara Duterte and Speaker Martin Romualdez (Photos from OVP, Speaker's office)
In a press briefing at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) Panay-Negros Island Satellite Office in Bacolod City on Monday, Nov. 11, the official alleged moves by Romualdez to get to power.
“Alam ko si Martin (I know Martin), he really wants to run for president. He can’t make it through a popular vote, he will just do the charter change and run as prime minister,” she said.
The House Speaker used to be Duterte’s campaign manager in the 2022 elections and welcomed her with open arms to his Lakas-Christian-Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD).
But the two had a falling out after a failed coup against Romualdez plotted allegedly by Duterte’s mentor, former president and Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Arroyo.
Since then, the Vice President severed ties with Lakas-CMD and eventually resigned from the Marcos Cabinet before publicly criticizing President Marcos, whom she run with under the UniTeam tandem.
Because of the breakdown of the relations between the Dutertes and the Romualdez-Marcos clans, the Vice President said she believes the attacks against her are politically motivated.
“It is politically motivated kasi dahil di ko alam ano ang kinagalit ni Liza Marcos sa akin (because I don’t know what Liza Marcos is angry about),” she said, citing the First Lady’s interview wherein she said she was annoyed at how Duterte laughed after her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte called President Marcos “bangag (stoned).”
“Wala na tayong magawa diyan (We cannot do anything about that),” she added, noting these were the First Lady’s “personal take and feelings” on the matter.
Since openly criticizing the Marcos administration, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) became the subject of a House good government committee inquiry into alleged misused public funds.
The OVP’s proposed budget of more than P2 billion is also being threatened to be cut to just under a billion.