Sara Duterte quits as Education Secretary, parting ways with Marcos
She remains vice president but pulls out of the alliance that saw her run in 2022 with the son of the Philippines’ former dictator. The break stems from political differences on issues like relations with China and the United States and public order, as well the personal ambitions of the two political dynasties.
Manila (AsiaNews) – Ending months of speculation, Sara Duterte resigned yesterday from her posts as Secretary of Education and Co-Vice Chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, who served as president from 2016 to 2022, Sara Duterte, will remain as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’ vice president.
The resignation puts the spotlight on the growing rift between the two leaders, reflecting a clash between the two clans as well as a difference in priorities and sensitivities.
In her letter to President Marcos, the vice president “declined to give any reason,” the Presidential Communications Office said in a statement. This came 20 minutes after she informed her followers on Facebook about her "irrevocable resignation".
Last week, she quit the Uni-Team, the electoral alliance that allowed Marcos and Duterte to run the unprecedented ticket that won in May 2022.
Now the team is no longer necessary since, as Duterte indicated, the two would no longer run together for public office.
The split was not only predictable, but it might lead an open hostility between the two, even to fresh elections.
For both, the team was not a finish line, but a springboard. Marcos needed it to complete the rehabilitation of his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr, which Duterte had already begun during his term in office.
Marcos Jr is taking a different path than his predecessor on public order, budget management, and international relations, including closer military cooperation with the United States to contain China (as well as better relations with Western partners in general), which Duterte opposes because it requires a quid pro quo on respect for human rights.
Under the Philippine constitution, Rodrigo Duterte was not eligible to run for a second term. His daughter’s vice presidency would have provided an opportunity for him to play a future role in the Senate or as vice president if she was elected president. Both father and daughter share ideas, character, and experience as mayor of Davao, the largest city in southern Philippines.
It is no coincidence that Sara Duterte has been very busy since her election building up support for herself, not exclusively based on the fate (and contradictory statements) of her father.
The same goes even more for her relationship with the incumbent president. As VP, she set up scores of offices across the country to help Filipinos with burial assistance and medical care.
.png)
29/09/2021 16:33
08/02/2023 15:46
18/06/2022 16:25
