PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denied on Monday, November 20, 2023 (Philippine time), the supposed cracks between the Uniteam, which is led by him, and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio.
In an interview with reporters in Hawaii, Marcos said his relationship with Duterte, who was his running-mate during the 2022 national elections, was “excellent,” noting that they are “very different in many ways, but we are also very similar in many ways.”
“On a professional level, nothing but good things to say about the work she has done in the Department of Education,” he said.
"On a very personal level, we get along very well," he added.
Marcos said that with regards to the reported impeachment talks against Duterte, he said they are closely monitoring.
“Binabantayan namin nang mabuti because we don’t want her to be impeached, we don’t want her to… She does not deserve to be impeached so we will make sure that this is something we will pay very close attention to,” he said.
“Lahat naman kami merong ganyan (impeachment rumors). There will always be an element that will want to change the results of an election. So, I don’t think it’s particularly unusual, I don’t think it’s particularly worrisome,” he added.
Earlier, Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list lawmaker France Castro said that some congressmen and political leaders in the House of Representatives were actually talking about filing impeachment complaints against Duterte, although she later clarified that the discussions were “not a serious move.”
This came following the move of the House of Representatives to strip the Department of Education and the Office of the Vice President of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) under the 2024 proposed budget.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez, amid friction with the Dutertes, particularly former President Rodrigo Duterte, had denied impeachment rumors against the second highest government official of the country.
The former President, in a bid to defend his daughter’s request for CIF, tagged the House of Representatives as the most rotten institution.
The younger Duterte later dropped her bid for P650 million CIF.
The Vice President said Sunday, November 19, they are already looking into the impeachment rumors as she also maintained that her relationship with Marcos was fine.
"We're okay," said Duterte.
“I believe that I still have the trust of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” she added. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
