Is She Ready to Lead? VP Sara Duterte’s Evasive Reply Raises More Questions Than Answers
SARA DUTERTE – Vice President Sara Duterte triggered new political speculation after refusing to confirm whether she is prepared to take over the presidency if President Marcos steps down.
Vice President Sara Duterte declined to confirm whether she is ready to assume the presidency if President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vacates his post, choosing instead to deflect questions as political pressure against the administration continues to build. Her remarks came at a time when calls from her own political allies for Marcos to step down have grown louder.
“I will not answer that right now because we will have chaos,” Duterte told News5 when pressed about her readiness to take over the presidency. As mandated by the Constitution, the vice president is first in the line of succession should the president be unable to serve.
Her evasive response surfaces amid the administration’s struggle to contain public uproar over alleged multibillion-peso “ghost” flood-control projects. Tensions escalated further after Sen. Imee Marcos accused her brother, President Marcos, and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos of being drug addicts during a recent Iglesia ni Cristo rally. The accusations, coming from within the president’s own family, stirred controversy across the political landscape.
Both Malacañang and the Marcos family dismissed Imee’s claims, labelling them acts of desperation and emphasising that the president had already taken a drug test that yielded negative results.
Duterte, however, insisted that the president should undergo another test, citing persistent rumours involving individuals they had supposedly socialised with. “If you are the president, vice president or government official, you cannot say no when challenged to undergo a drug test, neuropsychiatric exam or other exams related to competency,” she said.
The Palace responded sharply, reminding the public that her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, had openly admitted to marijuana use and abusing fentanyl. “Did she order her father to undergo a drug test?” Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro remarked, adding that Marcos is focused on governance while “others have shown signs of uncontrollable anger issues.”
Amid these developments, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson denounced proposals circulating online for a transition council or military-backed “reset,” calling them unconstitutional. He confirmed that retired generals had allegedly offered him a role in a proposed junta but firmly rejected the idea. “I hope such military-backed intervention would not happen because nothing good can come out of it,” Lacson said, urging the public to denounce irregularities through legal and democratic means.