(FILES) Philippines' Vice President Sara Duterte speaks during the kick-off rally for the New Philippines movement at Quirino Grandstand in Manila on January 28, 2024. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP)
Manila, Philippines: Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte resigned Wednesday from her posts of education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body, as her whirlwind alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. unraveled over key differences, including efforts to arrest a religious leader accused of child abuses and Manila’s handling of escalating territorial disputes with Beijing.
Duterte’s resignation from Marcos' Cabinet was accepted by the president and would take effect July 19, Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a statement, and added she would remain the vice president.
Duterte, 46, did not cite any reason for her resignation, Garafil said, but there have been open political hostilities between her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, and Marcos.
She ran as the vice-presidential running mate of Marcos, under a hastily forged unity ticket and won with huge margins in 2022.
Early this year, the former president accused Marcos’ legislative allies of plotting to amend the constitution to lift term limits and warned that could lead to him being ousted by a public uprising like his father, the late Ferdinand Marcos, in 1986. Marcos laughed off the allegations.
On China’s increasingly aggressive moves against the Philippines in the South China Sea, Marcos has become one of the most vocal critics of Beijing’s actions, in sharp contrast to the vice president’s refusal to comment on the issue.
Her father nurtured cozy ties during his presidency with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin while often criticizing the security policies of the United States and its Western allies.
Marcos, who took office in 2022, backpedaled by rapidly boosting security ties with Washington, which he said needed to have a presence in Asia as a counterweight to China.
Marcos also announced that he would shift his predecessor’s brutal crackdown against illegal drugs which killed thousands of mostly poor suspects, to refocus on the rehabilitation of drug dependents.
