Marcos on Sara’s resignation: “I can understand her”

MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has no intention of convincing Vice President Sara Duterte to return to the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats or Lakas-CMD following her resignation recently.

Duterte, who is also the concurrent Education secretary, resigned after her closest ally, Rep. Gloria Arroyo, was demoted from being a Senior Deputy Speaker to Deputy Speaker after she was suspected of plotting to oust House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of Marcos.

Marcos said he understands Duterte on her decision to resign from the Lakas-CMD party.

“Alam n’yo naman, si VP Inday Sara is very plain-spoken. Kung ano ang sinabi niya ‘yun ang ibig sabihin nun. She has too much work to do that she cannot be involved in any – that she cannot allow herself to be distracted. That’s the way I read it,” Marcos said.

Marcos said Duterte must have been overwhelmed and decided to resign from Lakas-CMD amid all her obligations to the people being the Vice President and Education Secretary.

“It’s true because kung titignan mo, kung ano ang mga hinaharap n’ya ay talagang marami talaga at hindi n’ya pwede – to be involved in whatever it is that is going on – she has to concentrate on her job as Secretary for the DepEd and now NTF-ELCAC,” Marcos said, referring to Duterte’s recent designation as Vice Chairperson of the controversial National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

“So, I can understand why sasabihin niya ‘sige ayusin n’yo muna ‘yan, gagawin ko muna itong mga importanteng kailangan kong tapusin’,” Marcos added, referring to Duterte’s sudden resignation.

Benar News also reported Duterte thanked party members for their support, but said politics would not distract her from doing her job. “Nothing is more important to me than being able to meaningfully serve our fellow Filipinos and the Philippines – with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr leading the way. Trust that my word, my commitment will be immutable,” she said.

Duterte, 44, is the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, the former president whose six-year term ending last year was marked by widespread killings of alleged drug addicts and dealers. Marcos has been under pressure from local and international human rights groups to allow International Criminal Court prosecutors to enter the Philippines to investigate the thousands of deaths under his predecessor. 

Analysts have said that Marcos, a member of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas party who was backed by Lakas-CMD, had promised the Vice President that he would not hand over her father to international investigators, clearing the way for Marcos’ successful presidential run.

“The power play and intramurals in Lakas may result in further resignations by Arroyo and Duterte loyalists” ahead of the 2028 presidential election, said Edcel Lagman, an opposition congressman. 

“These political developments will have repercussions in the revamp of the Marcos cabinet,” he said. 

Arroyo claimed that she was demoted over fears that she posed a threat to Romualdez. “When I learned that there were reports that I was suspected of plotting a ‘coup’ against Speaker Romualdez, I decided I must speak out to clarify my political position,” Arroyo told reporters.

She said she was content to represent her district in the lower house while supporting the legislative agenda of Marcos and Romualdez.

In December 2019, the anti-graft body under the Duterte administration cleared Arroyo of corruption charges filed in 2016 over allegations she misused more than P73.6 million (U.S. $1.3 million) in funds from the state-run lottery agency. 

The case against Arroyo, 76, and several officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office stemmed from allegations of misuse of funds from 2004 to 2007. The office raises funds for health programs and medical assistance through daily lotteries. (Mindanao Examiner, Benar News)