Mandaluyong Mayor Benjamin Abalos Sr. said that he had foreseen the resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte both as Department of Education Secretary and Vice-Chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
During his guesting at the "MACHRA Balitaan" held by the Manila City Hall Reporters' Association at the Harbor View Restaurant, Abalos said the resignation of VP Duterte stemmed from "her father and family's differences on matter of running government."
"Nakakaawa naman siya siyempre. Between your father and your family and your loyalty to the party, 'yon ang nangyari sa kanya so, she has no alternative but to resign (She is pitiful of course. Between your father and your family and your loyalty to the party, that's what happened to her so, she has no alternative but to resign)," he said.
The former Comelec and MMDA chairman also said that he sees realignments in the coming days following the resignation of VP Duterte from her two Cabinet posts.
"Magkakaroon siyempre ng realignments although as a matter of fact, even without this, sigurado 'yan meron tayong realignments... Temporary lang naman ang union nung nakaraan. Kitang-kita naman natin na me kanya-kanya. Ganyan naman talaga ang politics, no permanent friends or enemies (There will of course be realignments although as a matter of fact, even without this, we will have realignments for sure... The union in the past was only temporary. Politics is like that, no permanent friends or enemies)," Abalos said.
Meanwhile, Abalos said that banning Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) as proposed by the China Embassy will no longer have any impact as far as the city of Mandaluyong is concerned.
Abalos said that the city had already lost the benefits that it used to derive from legitimate or licensed POGO operations when the pandemic hit, even lamenting that the said operations never came back after the pandemic.
"Lahat naman ng negosyo may kalokohan. It is just a matter of policing," Abalos said on the crimes spawned by POGO operations.
He added that Mandaluyong also had its share of POGO, but it never encountered problems.