MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio clarified that First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos had nothing to do with her resignation from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet.
“No, kasi wala naman din kinalaman si First Lady sa trabaho namin ni Pangulong Marcos,” Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on Thursday morning.
Duterte-Carpio resigned as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) last month.
Araneta-Marcos said in an interview that Duterte-Carpio was a “bad shot” to her after the Vice President was caught on camera laughing while her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, called President Marcos “bangag” in a Davao event last January.
Duterte-Carpio said her decision to quit from Marcos’ Cabinet has something to do with her previous agreement with the Chief Executive during the elections.
“Mayroong personal sa aming dalawa ni President Marcos which stems from ‘yung napag-usapan namin bago ako pumayag as Vice President,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She added: “Mayroon sa trabaho at mayroon din sa bayan…Hindi isang rason lang. Nagkabuhol-buhol na, maraming rason.”
Cracks in the Duterte-Carpio’s partnership with President Marcos Jr. began to show in 2023 when the leadership of the House of Representatives under Speaker 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 of her confidential funds by the Romualdez-led House under the 2024 national budget.
During Independence Day, Duterte-Carpio declared in an interview that her “UniTeam” with Marcos Jr. during the 2022 national elections no longer existed as the campaign period was already over./PN
