MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio maintained that her increasingly sharp criticism of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. stems from what she sees as failures in his leadership and not from any personal hostility toward her former political ally.
Speaking in an interview in The Hague, Duterte-Carpio drew a distinction between Marcos as a person and his performance as the country’s chief executive.
“Wala akong problema sa kanya bilang tao. Ang problema ko sa kanya bilang presidente. Wala kaming alitan na personal na dalawa. Baka para sa kanya, meron. Pero para sa akin wala,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She also defended her public statements against the Marcos administration as a legitimate exercise of her constitutional right to free expression.
“And whatever I say, whatever comment I have with his administration and with the government right now is my right to freedom of speech,” she added.
Relations between Marcos and Duterte-Carpio have steadily deteriorated since they won the 2022 national elections as running mates under the UniTeam alliance.
Their political partnership eventually collapsed, with Duterte-Carpio resigning as Education secretary and becoming one of the Marcos administration’s fiercest critics.
Her latest remarks came as she faces an impeachment trial before the Senate.
One of the Articles of Impeachment involves statements Duterte-Carpio made during an online press conference in which she said she had instructed someone to kill Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she herself were killed.
Duterte-Carpio has repeatedly spoken about the Marcos administration while staying in The Hague, where she has been visiting her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who remains in the custody of the International Criminal Court./PN
