Speaker: Relations with Vice President Sara ‘very good’

SAN FRANCISCO — Speaker Martin Romualdez described as “very good” his relationship with Vice President Sara Duterte in the wake of speculations that the administration’s UniTeam coalition already has cracks.

“Very good,” Romualdez told reporters here last Saturday.

He also denied that there is an effort to impeach her in the House of Representatives.

“I am not aware of any. Nothing filed. No news on that,” Romualdez said.

Asked where Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. France Castro may have gotten her information about the supposed attempt to impeach Duterte, Romualdez replied: “I don’t know your sources. There is nothing in the offing, nothing in general.”

The Vice President, for her part, says she still enjoys President Marcos’ trust amid reports that cracks have formed within the UniTeam coalition, the political ticket that launched the pair to a landslide victory in last year’s elections.

“We’re OK. I believe that I still have the trust of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,” Duterte said.

Additionally, the Vice President said her office was conducting due diligence on rumors that the House was allegedly plotting an impeachment complaint against her.

“We will release a comment at the appropriate time,” she added.

Asked about her political aspirations, Duterte said she had no intentions to run for President in the 2028 elections.

“I never really aspired to run for vice president, much more for President. I’ve said that before,” she said.

Rumors that there is an infighting among allies of President Marcos floated after  former president and now Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was abruptly demoted from senior deputy speaker to deputy speaker.

House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe had said Arroyo was replaced by Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr.  to “unburden” her “of the heavy load required from the position.” There were speculations that Arroyo lost her post because she had sought to oust Romualdez but she denied this.

After Arroyo was stripped of her post, Duterte resigned from the dominant Lakas-CMD party.

Talks about the supposed bickering in the UniTeam alliance were fueled further by the decision of the House of Representatives to realign the combined P650-million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education to security agencies handling the threats in the West Philippine Sea. Sara serves as education chief in a concurrent capacity.

Sara has since withdrawn her request for confidential funds on the proposed national budget for 2024.

Sara’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, recently claimed that Romualdez is “swallowing” discretionary funds and labeled the House of Representatives as the most corrupt agency.

The House has approved a resolution upholding its integrity and honor following the former president’s tirades.

Arroyo, who did not sign the resolution, was again demoted and lost her post as deputy speaker. Also demoted was former deputy speaker Rep. Isidro Ungab of the third district of Davao City, an ally of the Dutertes.

CIF diversion

Insinuations about attempts to impeach Duterte in the House of Representatives are means to divert attention from the P125-million confidential funds she spent in just 11 days in December 2022, Castro suggested.

She pointed out that for all intents and purposes, the impeachment row is just a ploy for Duterte to escape from the issue.

“Our focus should really be on the confidential funds, because this has remained unanswered since September this year. And concerned agencies like the OVP, DepEd have not made any explanations until now,” she emphasized.

“We, in the Makabayan bloc, remain focused on the issue of accountability in the use of confidential funds. It’s not only with the OVP, but also in OP (Office of the President) where we have questions. In the previous Duterte administration, confidential funds were huge,” Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas stressed.

Brosas also mentioned the need for Congress to scrutinize the multibillion-peso confidential funds that were used by the younger Duterte, who was mayor of Davao City before she was elected vice president in May 2022.