MANILA, Jan 31 — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said there is no rift between his Vice President Sara Duterte and himself, after both her brother and father strongly criticised him.
On Sunday (January 28), Duterte's brother Sebastian Duterte, the mayor of Davao city, urged Marcos to resign over his supposed failings to address crime and a foreign policy which "endangers the lives of innocent Filipinos".
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Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. attends a session of the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit Meeting at the Hotel Okura Tokyo in Tokyo, Japan, December 17, 2023. — Picture via REUTERS[/caption]
Similarly, her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, called the incumbent president a "drug addict".
Speaking to the press while on a state visit to Vietnam, Marcos said his relationship with the vice president is "exactly the same", adding his "Uniteam" with Duterte was intact.
Marcos and Duterte ran under the "Uniteam" ticket in the 2022 election, both winning a landslide victory.
"Uniteam is not just one party of two parties or three parties. It's the unification of all political, hopefully all political forces in the Philippines to come together for the good country.
"That is still there. It is still vibrant," he said yesterday.
Duterte, whom Marcos appointed as education secretary, said on Monday (January 29) that her brother's remarks must have come "from a place of brotherly love", but said she would "stay true" to her work at the Education Ministry, despite calls from some politicians for her to leave.
There is no indication so far that the row between Marcos and the Dutertes would escalate, but today, the Economic Planning Minister cautioned that political instability was not good for business.
— Reuters
