'Kasi magkakagulo tayo niyan': VP Sara declines to comment on taking over presidency
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte (Mark Balmores/MANILA BULLETIN)
Vice President Sara Duterte refused to comment on whether she is ready to take over the presidency should President Marcos step down from power.
“Yan muna hindi ko muna sasagutin kasi magkakagulo tayo niyan (I will not answer that for now because we will have chaos),” she told News5 during an interview in Davao City on Sunday, Nov. 23.
The Vice President is next in line in the country’s line of succession to the presidency.
The question as to her readiness to take over Malacañan came as Senator Panfilo Lacson revealed over the weekend that some retired military officers offered him a role in a “civil-military junta” if they succeed in toppling the Marcos administration.
The senator rejected the proposals of a “transition council” and a military-backed “reset,” calling these unconstitutional.
Marcos was recently tagged by resigned Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co in the multi-billion-peso flood control corruption scam, pointing to him and former speaker Martin Romualdez as the ones who received kickbacks from the anomalous infrastructure projects.
He is also being heavily criticized for his seemingly slow response in holding people accountable, as people fear that the persistence of high-level corruption and the near-absence of convictions prove that the President could not go after the people responsible for the substandard and ghost projects.
Last week, the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) held a two-day rally attended by more than 900,000 people, urging accountability and transparency in government.
The Catholic Church is also gearing up for a Nov. 30 Second Trillion March rally to call on the Marcos administration to address large-scale corruption issues.
Duterte and Marcos run as allies in the 2022 national elections, but had a falling out less than a year into their victory.