House Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos candidly admittedly Saturday, Aug. 8 that he saw the early break-up of the UniTeam alliance coming.

Rep. Marcos, in an interview with PRTV Prime Media's Kwatro Alas, said he felt "sad" when the so-called UniTeam partnership of his father, President Marcos, and Vice President Sara Duterte ended the way it did.

"Obviously, nakakalungkot. Hindi lang dahil nagkahiwalay yung UniTeam, but because of what came after that. Yung gulo sa politika," said the presidential son.

(Obviously, it’s sad. Not just because the UniTeam split up, but because of what came after that—the chaos in politics.)

"Eh lagi ko naman sinasabi, kapag may gulo sa pulitika, nababawasan ka ng oras para magtrabaho. Eh nakikita naman talaga natin yun," he noted.

(And I always say, when there’s chaos in politics, you lose time to actually work. And we really see that.)

Rep. Marcos continued regarding the political break-up: "It was part of me, kind of saw it coming. Hindi dahil sa isang tao, kung di sa daming mga iba't ibang partido sa paligid, na sa dami nilang--it was a power struggle."

(Not because of one person, but because of the many different parties around—there were so many of them—it was a power struggle.)

"There was a lot of play, and there were many people who I guess were vying to take power away, I suppose," he said.

President Marcos and Vice President Duterte had a very public falling out in mid-2024, roughly two years into their six-year terms in office. But observers could claim that there were already cracks within UniTeam as early as 2023.

Rep. Marcos went on to share an anecdote before the 2022 national elections when his father was invited to Malacañang. At that time, he elder Marcos was seeking the endorsement of then-president Rodrigo Duterte, the current Vice President’s father.

Suffice it to say, it was an eye-opening experience for the Marcoses.

"And I will never forget...nung nangangampanya na ang aking tatay tapos hinihingi niya ang suporta ng Malacañang, tinawagan kami. Pinapunta kami sa Malacañang, pinahintay kami dyan, mga dalawang oras kami nakahintay, nakatambay lang dun," the majority leader said.

(And I will never forget…when my father was campaigning and asking for Malacañang’s support, we got a call. We were told to go to Malacañang, and we waited there, just hanging around for about two hours.)

"And then nakaharap kami--i'm never gonna forget--nandoon kami sa presidential guest house pinasok--and at the time, there was still no official endorsement from Malacañang," he said.

(And then we were brought in—I’ll never forget—we were taken into the presidential guest house. At that time, there was still no official endorsement from Malacañang.)

Instead of meeting Digong, they were entertained by somebody else.

"So we were supposed to meet the President at that time, but instead hinarap kami sa tatlong tao, hindi ko na lang babanggitin kung sino," he narrated.

(So we were supposed to meet the President then, but instead we were put in front of three people—I won’t name them.)

Rep. Marcos said the trio essentially asked his father what his plans were, and what favors he could do for them. He gave a clue about one of these three individuals.

"There's was one person who is a sitting official now, hindi ko na lang sasabihin (but I won't say who), but that's a clue. He's a sitting official now)."

This current official allegedly made a series of requests on behalf of then-president Duterte in exchange for his endorsement.

Unsurprisingly, the elderly Marcos--who was leading pre-election surveys at that time--turned down the offer.

"And sinabi niya kay Pangulo [President Marcos], 'Sige, suportahan ka namin on the condition that kami ang mamimili ng ES (executive secretary), kami mamimili ng Speaker, kami mamimili ng Senate President, kami mamimili ng secretary...' Basta marami silang hiningi," the second-term congressman said.

(He told the President [President Marcos], 'Alright, we’ll support you on the condition that we get to choose the Executive Secretary, the Speaker, the Senate President, the secretary of...' Basically they asked for a lot.)

He shared a quote from his father that summed up the latter's feelings from the meeting.

"And then when we left the Palace, tumingin ang tatay ko sa akin. 'Alam mo, kulang na lang papatayin na nila ako,'" he said.

(My father looked at me and said, 'You know, it’s like they almost want to kill me.')

Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte dominated the 2022 polls. They garnered 31 million and 32 million in the presidential and vice presidential races, respectively. These were both record numbers and rare majority vote victories for the national-level posts.