President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. admitted to feeling “dismayed” and “deceived” over what he described as a strained relationship with Vice President Sara Duterte.
Marcos’ admission came in response to Duterte’s remarks last September that they are “not friends” despite being running mates in the 2022 elections while maintaining a close relationship with the President’s sister, Senator Imee Marcos, since 2012.
In an interview with the Philippine media delegation in Laos, Marcos said he was uncertain about the current status of his relationship with the Vice President.
“That’s a good question. I don’t know anymore. I am not quite sure I understand,” Marcos said.
“I’m a little dismayed to hear that she doesn’t think that we are friends. I always thought that we were. But maybe I was deceived,” Marcos added.
The President expressed disappointment but acknowledged that Duterte’s decision to exit his administration had impacted their interactions after the Vice President then resigned from the Department of Education last June 2024.
“She left the administration, so she is not part of the administration anymore. She’s not part of the, really the day-to-day whelming of what we’re doing It will be unfair to ask her all of a sudden to impose that duty on her since that is not part of her work now,” Marcos explained.
When asked whether his decision to exclude Duterte from the Executive Committee stemmed from distrust, Marcos denied such claims, citing practical reasons for his decisions.
He also clarified that his decision to exclude Duterte from certain key committees, such as the Executive Committee, was due to her non-cabinet role.
“It’s a very practical reason, actually. That’s how I came to that conclusion,” he said.
“If you notice, the membership of the Executive Committee… they are all members of the cabinet now. That seems to be the obvious way to handle it,” he added. (TCSP)
