VICE President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte denied the involvement of House Speaker Martin Romualdez in her decision to run for the national post.
"Speaker Martin Romualdez had absolutely nothing to do with my decision to run for Vice President," Duterte said in a statement issued Wednesday evening, June 7.
The former Davao City mayor said that the claim is an insult to her supporters who campaigned for her to run.
"To say that he ‘tremendously helped in pushing for’ my Vice Presidential bid is acutely inaccurate — an insult to thousands of groups and individuals who incessantly implored me to reconsider an earlier decision not to join national politics," the Vice President said.
The daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte said it was Romualdez's cousin, Senator Imee Marcos, who later on persuaded her to run for the vice presidency.
She said, "[I]t was a decision sealed only after President Bongbong Marcos agreed to the conditions I set before running for VP [vice president]."
She added, "There was no Speaker Romualdez in the picture."
Duterte said Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. was "obviously badly informed or made to believe a lie."
Barzaga, in various reports, lauded Romualdez for remaining focused on his position amid attacks thrown against him. He was also quoted in various reports claiming Romualdez’s involvement in convincing Duterte to run for the vice presidency.
“The Speaker worked hard for then Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s vice presidential bid because he genuinely believed that she would make a difference,” the lawmaker said.
"Meanwhile, a person who cannot distinguish between attack and humor has no place in politics — especially if one fails to understand that political bickering is just a facet of democracy and should not be used to equate with governance," Duterte said.
The Vice President, on May 19, announced her "irrevocable" resignation from Lakas-CMD party, where Romualdez is the current National President.
She did not cite the reason for her resignation.
Her resignation comes after Pampanga Second District Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, one of the 71 members of the chamber belonging to Lakas-CMD, was demoted from being the House of Representatives’ senior deputy speaker to a mere deputy speaker.
Days after, Duterte posted a photo of her selfie dated May 21, with the caption, "Sa imong ambisyon (In your ambition), do not be tambaloslos."
The Vice President, meanwhile, reiterated her support to the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., also a cousin of Romualdez.
She said the Marcos administration is "stable and strong."
"It has my all-out support and the support of the majority of the Filipino people," she said.