Sara on poll plans: Who knows what will happen?
Credit to Author: Neil Jayson Servallos| Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0800
MANILA, Philippines — Although widely expected, another shot at public office – possibly the presidency – by Vice President Sara Duterte is still in the realm of the unpredictable.
Asked about her election plans by television reporters in Malaysia on Monday, the Vice President replied: “Politics is like life. You won’t know what will happen tomorrow.”
Duterte, who concurrently serves as the Marcos administration’s education chief, was in Malaysia for the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education (SEAMO) conference.
Last month during an event in Davao City, Duterte announced her intention to run for office in “the next elections” and that she was already “campaigning” because her brothers, Davao City Mayor Sebastian and Davao City Rep. Paolo, were not running anymore.
She did not say if she was referring to the coming 2025 mid-term elections. The next presidential election is in 2028. Duterte had been topping recent presidential surveys.
Also in the same interview, Duterte said her relationship with President Marcos remains fine despite the contempt for the Marcoses brazenly voiced out by her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and brother Sebastian.
“We have no problem with each other. President Bongbong Marcos and I are doing good in terms of our personal or working relationship,” Duterte said.
Speculations that the Vice President and the President no longer see eye-to-eye emerged following a public tongue-lashing Marcos received from the former president and the Davao City mayor at a rally last month in the southern city.
The former president, in a speech, called Marcos a drug addict who was on the drug list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, while Mayor Duterte demanded in a speech the resignation of the Chief Executive.
In response, Marcos said at a rally on the same day in Manila that the elder Duterte may have overdosed on fentanyl, hence his erratic behavior. Despite the unsavory verbal exchange, Marcos still designated his Vice President to serve as caretaker during his trip to Vietnam. The pair also appeared together during a series of events in Davao City earlier this month.
While the animosity between Marcos and the Dutertes is already obvious to many, the Vice President said she had not spoken about it with her family or with the President.
“My family and I have not yet spoken… President Marcos has also not asked me questions regarding what my brother and father said,” Duterte added.
Cracks in the Marcos-Duterte alliance began appearing last year, with the former president delivering a stinging rebuke of the House of Representatives, led by Marcos cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez.
This was after the chamber, whose mandate includes the power of the purse, realigned the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.
The P650-million combined confidential and intelligence funds of the two offices that the younger Duterte heads have been transferred to agencies handling national security concerns, primarily protecting the West Philippine Sea.
Meanwhile in her speech before SEAMO yesterday, Duterte said she intends to forge stronger partnerships with Malaysia to boost the Philippines’ flagship programs for teacher education and student welfare.
“As we continue to exchange ideas and engage in productive discussions, I hope that we seize the opportunity to build bridges and strengthen the foundations of education between our countries, and the SEAMEO member-countries,” Duterte said.
She said making the Southeast Asian basic education curriculum relevant was among SEAMEO’s main thrusts, as she stressed that its programs on science and mathematics would help the region achieve its development goals.
The Vice President said she hopes the collaboration among ministries of education in the region and all SEAMEO centers would pave the way for more new programs aimed at achieving innovative and inclusive education system.