Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte expressed her gratitude to Senator Imee Marcos for supporting her family amid the tensions between the latter and her cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
(From left) Vice President Sara Duterte and Senator Imee Marcos (Photos from Office of the Vice President, Senate of the Philippines)
In a statement on Sunday, Jan. 21, the official addressed a remark made by the senator last week in an “Unang Balita” interview.
The Vice President thanked Marcos for her continued support to her, her family, the Dabawenyos, and the city of Davao.
“Prinsipyo lang ang meron kami, wala ng iba. May isang salita para sa kapakanan ng bayan - ito lang ang ipinagmamalaki namin (Principle is the only thing we have, nothing more. We stand by our word for the nation—this is what we are most proud of),” Duterte wrote on Facebook.
An excerpt from the interview was posted as part of the Vice President’s message.
In an interview published last Jan. 16, Marcos admitted that Romualdez has been upset with her since October 2023 after she said she was “pro-Duterte” and that she wanted to “save” the UniTeam.
“Bakit tayo nakikipag-away? Hindi naman [sila] nakikipag-away. Ang tapang-tapang nga ng mga Duterte, pero hindi naman tayo tinatapangan. Talagang mababait sa 'tin. Ano bang problema (Why are we fighting with them? They’re not fighting. The Dutertes are very brave, but they are not being brave with us. They are really nice to us. What is the problem)?,” she chided.
The apparent row emerged after the House of Representatives questioned Duterte’s 2022 confidential funds and subsequently removed her proposed allocation under the 2024 national budget.
Former president Rodrigo Duterte publicly reprimanded Romualdez and alleged that he bribed lawmakers to do his bidding. He also claimed that the Speaker wanted to run for president in 2028, and politically eliminating the Vice President from the contest is a strategy.