đź“·Â Vice President Sara Duterte
IT’S official. Vice President Sara Duterte is no longer part of the Cabinet following her resignation as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) in what appears to be a confirmation of her breaking away from the Marcos administration.
No less than Press Secretary Cheloy Garafil made the announcement of Duterte’s resignation.
Aside from the top DepEd post, Sara also gave up her position as vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), an anti-insurgency body that was created by his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
The resignation letter dated today, June 19, was promptly accepted by the appointing authority – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with whom she teamed up during the May 2022 presidential elections.
“She declined to give a reason why. She will continue to serve as Vice President. We thank her for her service,” Garafil said.
Marcos and Duterte were running mates under the so-called UniTeam, composed mainly of political personalities who were either charged or convicted for graft and corruption.
The young Duterte, who is at odds with the President’s cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, has been silent for months over issues dragging her father’s name – the killing of hard-hitting broadcast journalist Percy Lapid allegedly perpetrated by former Bureau of Corrections director Gerald Bantag, the elusive Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy, the never-ending saga of Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, influx of Chinese nationals, the issue embarking on controversial confidential and intelligence funds and that of her father’s fate amid an imminent arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
Since January this year, the older Duterte has been blabbering on Marcos’ supposed drug habit.
Relatedly, Duterte and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos are not on speaking terms too. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
