Vice President Sara Duterte finally admitted that there are “personal” and “work” issues with President Marcos that led her to resigning from her post as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary and essentially leaving the Marcos administration’s official family.
Vice President Sara Duterte (Photo from Inday Sara Duterte Facebook page)
During a media interview on Thursday, July 18, after a tree-planting activity at the DepEd headquarters, the official gave a glimpse into why she has severed ties with her 2022 campaign running-mate.
“Ano siya mayroong personal sa aming dalawa ni President Marcos which stems from iyong napag-usapan namin bago ako pumayag noong tumakbong vice president (It’s about something personal between me and President Marcos which stems from the discussions we had before I agreed to run as vice president),” she told reporters.
“Mayroon siya sa trabaho at meron siya sa bayan. Mahaba siya na kwento and we will need a sit down (There’s something about work and something about the country. It’s a long story and we will need a sit down),” Duterte added.
Asked if the reason she’s leaving is a mix of issues, she answered in the affirmative. “Iyong nga, sabi ko personal, trabaho. Oo (That’s it, I said personal, work. Yes).”
It can be recalled that Duterte reportedly asked for the Department of National Defense (DND) post, but Marcos appointed her to DepEd instead.
She tendered her resignation on June 19, which will be effective on Friday, July 19. Senator Sonny Angara, who’s already on his last term in the Senate, will replace her.
While there are speculations that it was Duterte’s rocky relationship with First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and some other allies of the President that led to her resignation, this was the first time she admitted she has issues to talk about with Marcos.
In fact, the Vice President cleared that it was not Araneta-Marcos who pushed her to leave the Cabinet.
“No. Kasi wala naman din kinalaman si First Lady sa trabaho namin ni Pangulong Marcos (The First Lady has nothing do with my and President Marcos’ job),” she explained.
“Sabi ko nga ano siya kailangan niya ng sit down kasi hindi siya isang rason lang, nagkabuhol-buhol siya na madaming rason (As I said, it needs a sit down because it’s not just one reason, there are so many reasons that they got tangled up already),” Duterte added.
Araneta-Marcos has previously admitted she has issues with the Vice President after she saw her laughing when her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, called her husband “bangag (stoned)” in a prayer rally.