Sara in Cabinet ‘not tenable’ with widening rift, says Colmenares

It may no longer be tenable for Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio to be part of the Cabinet given the widening rift between her father and her principal, President Marcos, Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares said Monday.

“How can you maintain your position in the Cabinet after your father and your brother called your principal (out) for being a drug addict and at the same time that (Marcos) should resign,” Colmenares told reporters.

“That is no longer tenable for her to stay in the Cabinet. What will you do in Cabinet meetings?” he added.

Over the weekend, Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte challenged the President to resign while his father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, accused Mr. Marcos of drug use.

Mr. Marcos responded by saying doctors should take care of the Duterte patriarch as his use of fentanyl, a powerful painkiller, may have prompted his tirade.

Colmenares said it is up to Duterte-Carpio and Mr. Marcos to decide on whether the Vice President should remain in the Cabinet, and thus an alter-ego of the President.

The Vice President, who also heads the Department of Education, earlier publicly opposed the policy of the President to restart peace talks with communist rebels, likening it to “an agreement with the devil.”

She said she has not spoken yet to her brother, but blamed his call for Mr. Marcos to resign on the “despicable treatment” she was getting from people close to the Chief Executive.

“I have not spoken to my brother about his remarks on the President’s resignation,” the Vice President said in a statement, the morning after she attended the “Hakbang ng Maisug” forum and prayer rally in Davao against moves to amend the 1987 Constitution.

“I can only surmise that he is coming from a place of brotherly love, coupled by the common sentiment that I do not deserve the despicable treatment that I am receiving from some sectors within the circle of the President,” she added.

Despite the apparent tensions between the Marcos and Duterte clans, the Vice President said she would put the Philippines first and “stay true to my work at the Department of Education, unless the President says otherwise.”

She was still designated caretaker when the President left for Vietnam yesterday for a two-day state visit. — Maricel Cruz