Photo: Filipinos demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines last month to protest against the joint military exercise between the United States and the Philippines. \AFP
Sara Duterte, the Vice President of the Philippines and daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, announced on the 19th that she would resign from the cabinet of current President Marcos and resign from the positions of Minister of Education and Vice Chairman of the Anti-Insurgency Task Force. She will continue to serve as Vice President. This means that the ruling coalition of Sara and Marcos is further “heading for a break” and the political struggle is intensifying. Analysts point out that due to the large differences in their positions on issues such as China policy, the possibility of a “breakup” between the two major Philippine political families, the Duterte family and the Marcos family, is increasing.
In a statement, Presidential Communications Office Director Garafi said the president had accepted Sara’s resignation, but Sara did not give a reason for her resignation. “Sara refused to explain the reason for her resignation. She will continue to serve as vice president and we thank her for her service.”
Marcos continues to lean towards the United States
Sarah said at a press conference that day that she “resigned not because of incompetence, but because she really cares about teachers and young people.”
Political observers said that due to the long-standing differences, Sara’s resignation was “not surprising” and the alliance between the Marcos and Duterte families was “destined to collapse.” Sara ran for the presidential election as Marcos’ deputy in 2022, and the alliance between the two was called the “United Team.” Philippine media said at the time that Sara’s joining allowed Marcos to take advantage of the Duterte family’s huge network of contacts and eventually win an overwhelming victory.
Since last year, as Marcos changed the policies of Duterte and continued to lean towards the United States, the rift in the Marcos-Duterte alliance has continued to deepen. This year, the conflict between the two families has become increasingly public, and verbal battles have repeatedly broken out. In a public speech in January, Duterte blasted Marcos as a “drug addict” and even raised the possibility of removing him from office. Marcos then criticized Duterte’s judgment for being affected by fentanyl.
Marcos denied at the time that his conflict with Duterte had affected his relationship with Sara, insisting that the “united team” was still full of vitality. Regarding Duterte’s previous remarks against Marcos, Sara said that she respected the opinions of her family, but “did not necessarily agree with all the opinions of her family.”
On April 10, Marcos set off for a visit to the United States, but this time Marcos did not let Vice President Sara alone perform the presidential functions, but appointed three government caretakers. Gutierrez, who was the spokesman for former Philippine Vice President Robredo, said this unusual move showed that the relationship between the Marcos family and the Duterte family may have broken down.
He cited the example that after Marcos came to power, Duterte’s political enemy, former Philippine Attorney General De Lima, had been released from prison, and a religious figure close to Duterte, Quiboloy, was facing charges of child abuse. In addition, although Marcos said on the surface that he would not hand Duterte over to the ICC, he tacitly allowed ICC personnel to enter the Philippines for investigation.
Duterte criticizes US for disrupting South China Sea
Analysts pointed out that after six years in office, Duterte has formed a relatively stable political partner base in the Philippines. After Marcos came to power, he urgently needed to weaken the power of the Duterte family and strengthen his own base. The Philippine government has recently been expanding its military cooperation with the United States, repeatedly hyping up the South China Sea issue, and frequently making provocative moves against China.
In response to the Marcos government’s foreign policy that was completely oriented toward the United States, Duterte said that the current Philippine government has made the South China Sea issue and the Taiwan issue the basis of its foreign policy toward China. “The South China Sea was originally very peaceful, but after the Americans came, it became full of quarrels.” He opposed the United States continuing to build new military bases in the Philippines, “I feel deeply sorry for my country, but I am no longer the president, but if there is a way to reverse the situation, I will remove these military bases.”
As the conflicts between the two political families become irreconcilable, Sara, as the most representative figure of the Duterte family in Philippine politics, may become a strong competitor of Marcos in the future.
If the differences continue to intensify, Sara may have to resign as vice president in the future, and Duterte may be handed over to the ICC by the Marcos government. It will be difficult for interest groups in the Philippines to emerge that can pose a substantial threat to the Marcos family.
source: china