Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
“There’s more to it than meets the eye.”
This was what former president Rodrigo Duterte had to say about Vice President Sara Duterte’s resignation from Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD).
(From left) Former president Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte (Presidential Photo)
Although not a party member of Lakas-CMD as he stayed with Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the former chief executive offered his two cents on what went behind Duterte’s decision to leave the party under which she won as vice president.
“From the looks of it, parang hindi nagustuhan ni Sara, ni Inday, ‘yung ginawa nila kay (it seems that Sara, Inday, did not like what they did to) [former] President Arroyo,” he said during an interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy on SMNI news channel.
“But for her to take the extreme step of resigning, mukhang malalim ang (dahilan) niya. There’s more to it than meets the eye ika nga. Parang ganun (it seems her reasons run deep. There’s more to it than meets the eye as they say. It’s like that),” he added.
Last month, Duterte resigned from her position as chairperson of Lakas-CMD, the party she shared with House Speaker Martin Romualdez as president and former president and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Arroyo as chairman emeritus.
Her move came after rumors that Arroyo tried and failed to stage a coup against Romualdez and soon after, lost her senior deputy speaker position in the lower house.
The events spoke of the rumored rift in the UniTeam ticket of the Marcos administration, but both camps were quick to dispel the reports.
Duterte, however, remained mum about her reasons of leaving the party despite Arroyo staying on as chairman-emeritus.
It can be remembered that Arroyo stood as one of the architects of the UniTeam ticket, with many believing her influence convinced Duterte to run as vice president and leave the Davao mayoralty race to her brother.
The former president said his daughter was never really close to Arroyo, but their time together during the campaign might have struck a chord with VP Duterte to stand up for the Arroyo, the seasoned politician.
“Hindi naman ‘yan sila close actually. Pero nung nagsama sila, she won under that banner (Lakas-CMD), mukhang she might have felt also an obligation as a party member to just come out openly (They are not close actually. But when they were together, she won under that banner [Lakas-CMD], she might have felt also an obligation as a party member to just come out openly),” the elder Duterte explained.
— Raymund Antonio
*****
Credit belongs to : www.mb.com.ph
