VICE PRESIDENT Mayor Sara Duterte steered clear of speculations about her future plans in the 2028 presidential elections.
“The future is far too distant for us to speculate right now what will happen in 2028,” Duterte told the media in an ambush interview on Nov. 10.
The Department of Education secretary could not shake off the rumors and reports that she would lock horns with House Speaker Martin Romualdez for the presidential elections.
Her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, only fanned those speculations when he raised the idea that the vice president was targetted on the altar of Romualdez’s ambition to take over Malacañang.
On Nov. 9, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on his YouTube channel that VP Sara Duterte and Senator Imee Marcos would make a formidable team.
“Pagdating ng 2028, parang maganda atang Duterte-Marcos naman. Ano sa tingin ninyo? First time in history, parehong babae, pero bakit hindi, pareho naman silang mayroong bayag (In 2028, Why not the Marcos-Duterte tandem? They’re both women but they both have balls),” Roque said.
Roque also lauded both women as both stayed true to their words, citing Duterte’s withdrawal of the P650 million request for confidential funds for 2024, and Marcos’ professed loyalty to President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Noong 2015, ako ang una at kaisa-isang gobernador na nagdeklara ng suporta para kay Pangulong Duterte, at kahit ako ang nag-iisang matira, maninindigan ako para sa kanya,” said Sen. Marcos in a statement.
VP Duterte, on the other hand, said she is beyond grateful to Senator Marcos for the continued support for their family.
“It is true that the political side of our family is going through a rough patch right now. Para lang masabtan sa mga tawo, lahi ang politika, lahi ang trabaho. So, nagpasalamat ko kay Senator Imee Marcos sa iyahang padayon na pagsuporta sa politika sa among pamilya,” Duterte said.
Confidential funds
Duterte issued an official statement on Nov. 9 that the Office of the Vice President will no longer pursue the CF given it is “divisive, and as the Vice President, I swore an oath to keep the country peaceful and strong”.
When asked if bidding for the CF in the 2025 appropriations was being considered, Duterte refused to give a comment. “That is something that I cannot speculate right now because the next budget will be more than a year pa,” she added.
