Ben Madilynn
VICE President Sara Duterte denied on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, being friends with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
In an interview with reporters, Duterte said it is Senator Imee Marcos whom she has close ties with as she has known her since 2012.
“Hindi naman kasi kami talaga nag usap niyan (President Marcos). Hindi kami magkaibigan,” Duterte said.
(Because we didn’t really talk to each other. We are not friends.)
“Nagkakilala lang kami (President Marcos) dahil naging running-mate kami. Bago pa man kami naging running-mate, hindi na kami nag-uusap. Nag-uusap lang kami during campaign at dahil sa trabaho noon,” she added.
(We (President Marcos) only met because we were running-mates. Even before we became running-mates, we were not talking. We only talked during the campaign and because of work.)
In July, Duterte resigned as the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) and as vice chairperson of the anti-insurgency task force.
She earlier cited the manipulation of the national budget by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a cousin of the Marcoses, and House Committee on Appropriations chairperson Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Zaldy Co as one of the reasons for her resignation.
President Marcos earlier said he has not spoken to Duterte since June, when she handed him over her resignation.
Duterte earlier expressed regret for endorsing Marcos during the 2022 national elections.
She made the statement amid the ongoing search for Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in the KOJC compound in Davao City, which her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, tagged as “political harassment, persecution, violence and abuse of authority” that has put the country in a “tragic state.”
Quiboloy was arrested over charges of qualified human trafficking and child and sexual abuse. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)
