Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Says She and Pres. Bongbong Marcos Are Not Friends
BONGBONG MARCOS – The President gave his side on the statement of Vice President Sara Duterte which downplayed their ties.
Pres. Marcos and Vice Pres. Duterte were running-mates in the 2022 Elections. The BBM-Sara tandem which ran on the platform of unity was victorious in the presidential and vice presidential races. However, just around two (2) years after, the Filipinos noticed a falling out of the ties.
A few months ago, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte resigned from being the DepEd Secretary. Initially, she expressed that her decision to leave the helm of the education department is out of compassion for the teachers and the students.
After a while, Duterte claimed that there are both personal and work reasons in her decision to leave DepEd as well as the Marcos cabinet. She also left her position as the vice-chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Vice Pres. Duterte declared that she will no longer serve a position in the Marcos cabinet. She ditched the latest State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Pres. Marcos and did not also watched it online as per the Office of the Vice President.
When the Philippine National Police (PNP) conducted intensified search operations to find Pastor Apollo Quiboloy inside the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) compound in Davao City, the Vice President apologized to the KOJC members. According to her, it was a mistake when she sought their support for Marcos in the 2022 Elections.
Recently, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that she and Pres. Bongbong Marcos are not really friends. According to her, they only knew each other when they became running-mates in the elections and they only talked during the campaign and about work. She stressed that it is really the presidential sister, Senator Imee Marcos, who is her friend.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Lao PDR, Marcos was asked about his side on the statement of Duterte denying that they are friends. Based on a report on ABS-CBN, the Chief Executive admitted his disappointment on the remarks of the Vice President.
“I don’t know anymore. I’m not quite sure I understand. I’m a little dismayed to hear that she does not think we are friends,” he said.
Pres. Bongbong Marcos admitted that he thought that he and Vice Pres. Sara Duterte are friends — contrary to her belief. Based on the report, he revealed he thinks that maybe he was allegedly deceived.
“I always thought that we were but maybe I was deceived,” the President said.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte said that she will “never again” team up with the Marcoses. The Vice President recently had spar with the Senate and House members during the deliberations of the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).