MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio revealed that she was never friends with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. despite running under “UniTeam” in the 2022 national elections.
According to Duterte-Carpio, prior to the 2022 national polls she had never talked to the now Chief Executive but she is closer to his sister, Sen. Imee Marcos.
“Hindi naman kasi kami talaga nagkausap niyan. Hindi kami magkaibigan,” Duterte-Carpio said. “Nagkakilala lang kami 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. “Ang kaibigan ko talaga ay si Sen. Imee Marcos. Kilala niya ako since 2012.”
The Marcos-Duterte tandem, dubbed as UniTeam, won overwhelmingly in the 2022 elections, with Marcos getting 31 million votes and Duterte 32 million.
Cracks in the Marcos and Duterte-Carpio partnership began to show in 2023 when the leadership of the House of Representatives under Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez — Marcos’ cousin – removed former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as senior deputy speaker. The Vice President responded by bolting Lakas-CMD, Romualdez’s party.
Duterte-Carpio was then stripped off her confidential funds by the Romualdez-led House under the 2024 national budget.
Earlier this year, former President Rodrigo Duterte accused President Marcos of using illegal drugs in a prayer rally in Davao City. His allegations were denied by the President.
First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos then said in an interview that Duterte-Carpio was a “bad shot” to her after she was caught on camera laughing while her father attacked the President in a Davao event last January.
Duterte-Carpio then tendered her resignation from her cabinet posts in Department of Education (DepEd) and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)./PN
