Vice President Sara Duterte, who just expressed dissatisfaction with the current administration, said that she felt "used" by the Marcos camp so that President Marcos could win the 2022 presidential elections.
Duterte on Friday, Oct. 18, sat down with the media to make some revelations behind the UniTeam’s—the tandem of then-presidential aspirant Marcos and then-vice presidential aspirant Sara Duterte—winning during the polls.
Duterte said she really had no plans of running for the position. But it was Senator Imee Marcos, sister of the President, who convinced her to run alongside Marcos to be able to secure the votes of the Visayan people.
"Tumawag sakin si Sen. Imee Marcos, sabi nya sakin, pwede ka bang tumakbong vice president... sabi ko, bakit mo ako nirerequest na tumakbong vice president, (Sen. Imee Marcos called me to request if I could run for vice presidency, and I asked why)" she narrated.
"And I'm happy that she's honest enough to say, 'kasi matatalo kami ni Leni kung hindi mo dalhin yung Bisaya (because we're going to lose if you wouldn't secure the votes of the Visayan). It was very straightforward. It is all about winning,'" she added.
The Vice President said she suggested tapping Sen. Bato dela Rosa and former presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao as Marcos' partner, but both refused.
Duterte said the Marcos camp even held a quick survey to show that she and Marcos would likely win the elections if they would run as a constant tandem.
Her revelations about her journey to winning the presidency was bared after President Marcos said she was "deceived" by Duterte when she denied her friendship with him.
"Nagamit? Yes. Clear naman yun... Of course, ginamit nila ako para manalo sila (I was used? Yes, it's clear. Of course, they used me so they could win)," she said.
Sought for comment, acting Communications Secretary said that there is "no statement" from the Office of the President.
But Duterte maintained that she did not regret running for the vice presidency because she had a "rational decision" before doing so.
There is also no regret for her to tie up with Marcos because regardless whoever won the presidency—if it would be Marcos or Robredo—they would still run after her and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte who is now facing investigation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war on drugs.
'Road to hell'
Meanwhile, the Vice President also said she is not satisfied with how the Marcos' administration is running the country.
"Hindi marunong maging presidente ang nakaupo (The current president does not know how to do his job)," she said.
She substantiated her claim by saying that many Filipinos are still being "left behind," which is contrary to Marcos' promise.
She said she did not even hear from Marcos any platform during his campaign, so it was hard to measure how he is delivering.
"Hindi ko alam sa kanila (I don't know about them). You should ask the President kung ano yung platform nya (what's his platform)," she said, comparing the President to herself who actually has a platform of promoting peace and poverty alleviation and education."
"I don't ever remember may platform syang sinabi kung anong gagawin nya para sa bansang ito. Hindi nya sinabi ano ang gagawin natin sa food security, wala syang sinabi kung anong gagawin natin sa inflation na dadating (I don't even remember if he talked about his platform for the country. He didn't talk about food security or what he would do about inflation)," she added.
That's the reason why Duterte said that the country is now on "this road to hell."
"So ang tagline ng OVP is, para sa diyos, bayan at bawat pamilyang Pilipino. Hindi na po ngayon (OVP's tagline used to be for God, for the country and for every Filipino family. But it is not anymore). Starting today, ang tagline ng (the tagline of the) OVP is 'drag me to hell,'" she said in jest.
From Department of National Defense to Department of Education
When they won their positions, Duterte said Marcos really agreed to giving her the post as secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) as she wished.
However, Duterte eventually changed her mind of assuming the position in fear of "intrigues."
She believed that the opposition would gang up on her and exploit the opportunity to criticize her as DND chief.
"They will exploit this. Dahil sa DND ako, araw araw akong pagdududahan ano ginagawa ng babaeng 'yan dyan (Because I would be at the DND, they would doubt me everyday and ask what is this woman doing there), planning coup d'etat, planning to overthrow the government?" she said.
"So sabi ko sa sarili ko ayaw ko na magtrabaho ng ganon na araw araw kang pag-iisipan na may planong kang gawin... So ang sabi ko sa kanya [President], pwede ba akong lumipat sa Education? (So I told myself I did not want to work with people thinking negatively about you. So I told him, could I just move to education?) And then he said, yes," she added.
Duterte said she would be willing to take over the Education post if the President would support her travel expense to Davao City to meet her children.
However, the President did not make it come true.
Duterte said she resigned from her post as Education secretary because she was not satisfied with the Marcos administration.
'Toxic relationship'
Duterte also said there was a time when she realized that her relationship with Marcos was becoming "toxic."
It was when they attended a graduation ceremony and a graduate asked the President to give his watch as a gift.
Duterte said Marcos refused to give his watch. She said that triggered her to think about "choking" the President because the kid got embarrassed.