She is still vice president, but she has also dissolved the electoral cartel that supported her in 2022 along with the son of the former dictator of Manila. The rupture is influenced by differences in the political line printed on issues such as relations with China and Washington or public order, but also by the personal ambitions of the two political dynasties.
Manila () – With a decision that put an end to months of speculation, Sara Duterte yesterday resigned from the positions of Minister of Education and deputy director of the National Task Force to end the communist armed conflict. Daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Republic of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, Sara Duterte retains, however, the position of vice in the current presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. However, the resignation has explicitly confirmed the growing disagreement between the two leaders, which corresponds to both dynastic friction and differences in priorities and sensitivities.
The resignation – the Presidential Communication Office confirmed – was delivered by Sara Duterte along with a letter to President Marcos “refusing to give the reasons”; Just twenty minutes later she used her Facebook account to inform her followers of her “irrevocable resignation.” Last week, on the other hand, she had already declared the end of the UniTeam, the electoral committee that in May 2022 had allowed the unprecedented presidential tandem to achieve victory. The vice president explained that this tool is no longer necessary because they will not run together for public office again. The crisis, therefore, was not only foreseen, but could lead to an open confrontation between the two and, ultimately, even new elections.
In both cases, electoral competition had not been a goal but a springboard. Marcos needed it to complete the rehabilitation of the memory of his father, former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., which Duterte had already facilitated during his term. In addition to making different and opposite decisions from those of his predecessor on issues of public order, budget management and international relations, with the resumption of military cooperation with Washington to contain China, which Duterte opposed because it would have requested (as occurs, in general, in relations with Western partners) a counterpart regarding respect for human rights. On the other hand, Rodrigo Duterte could not run for the highest office in the State for the second consecutive time. In this sense, the figure of Sara – who shares with her father the ideas, character and experience as mayor of the largest city in the south of the Philippines, Davao – would have been a “bridge” to be able to aspire to a new election as senator. , president or vice president for him or as president for his daughter.
It is no coincidence that Sara Duterte has dedicated herself since she was elected to laying the foundations for a personal consensus and not exclusively based on the career (or contradictory statements) of her father. And even less about the current president. For example, she has created a dozen of her own offices in the archipelago where Filipinos can go for help in case of a funeral or medical assistance.
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