Sara on Bongbong: We’re not talking, we’re not friends

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte. | File photo

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday clarified that she and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. are “not friends” despite being running mates in the 2022 elections.

Duterte said it in response to questions about whether she and the President had met or talked about the issues thrown against her.

“Wala, hindi naman kasi kami talaga nagkausap n’yan. Hindi kami magkaibigan unang-una, nagkakilala lang kami dahil mag-running mate kami. So, bago pa man kami naging running mate, hindi na kami nag-uusap,” Duterte said in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the House committee on good government and public accountability hearing.

READ: VP Sara Duterte says ‘never again’ teaming up with Marcoses

(None, we are not talking. We are not friends in the first place, we just met because we were running mates. So, even before we became running mates, we had not talked already.)

“Nagkausap lang kami during campaign at saka sa trabaho noon. Ang kaibigan ko talaga si Senator Imee Marcos, kilala niya ako since 2012,” she added.  “Noong nag-tender ako ng resignation, ‘yon ‘yong last na nagkausap kami ni President Marcos.”

READ: Sara Duterte refuses to take oath at House hearing

(We only talked during the campaign and at work. My friend is Senator Imee Marcos, she has known me since 2012. When I tendered my resignation, that was the last time President Marcos and I talked.)

It was unclear how Duterte arrived at that statement, but the vice president previously said that even after her resignation as Education secretary, she and Marcos remained friends.

READ: For endorsing Bongbong to KJC, Sara seeks ‘forgiveness’

In fact, Duterte has featured several times — at least four instances — in Marcos’ vlog. The vice president was seen in the vlog when they were candidates for the 2022 polls, as well as after their election in a 2023 New Year edition.

In the said vlog, Marcos and Duterte tried to read each other’s fate and exchanged wishes for the new year.

READ: Sara chooses ‘private talk’ with Bongbong, disregards Liza’s personal feelings

Marcos’ intervention?

When asked if she thinks President Marcos can intervene to fix the supposed dispute between her and the House of Representatives, led by her former campaign manager Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Duterte said it is not in her attitude to ask for help.

“Alam niyo kasi, madaming hindi nakakakilala sa akin, pero mag-share ako kaunti ng ugali ko. Hindi ako humihingi ng tulong, alam ‘yan ng tatay ko, naging mayor siya, naging president siya, hindi ako humihingi ng tulong talaga,” she said.

(You know, many people do not know me, but I will say something about my attitude. I do not ask for help, my dad knows that, he became mayor, he became the president, but I still did not ask for help.)

“Kaya nga kanina kung nakita ninyo, lumapit ako kay Congresswoman Gloria Arroyo, sinabihan ko siya ‘Ma’am ‘wag ka nang magpa-stress dahil dito sa ginagawa nila sa akin, kaya ko ito. Don’t stress yourself about it.’  ‘Yan din ang sinabi ko kay Congressman [Rodante] Marcoleta,” she added.

(So when I approached Congresswoman Gloria Arroyo, I told her ‘Ma’am don’t stress yourself about what they are doing to me, I can handle it. I told the same thing to Congressman Rodante Marcoleta.)

Duterte was in the Batasang Pambansa complex to attend the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, which was convened to discuss the privilege speech of Manila 2nd District Rep. Rolando Valeriano last September 3.

Valeriano questioned the presentation made by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) during the deliberations on its 2025 budget, particularly the status of its aid programs that were reportedly limited within the National Capital Region (NCR) from 2023 to 2025.

Political attack

According to the lawmaker, the OVP has stated in their 2025 budget proposal that there are 977,615 beneficiaries. However, Valeriano said it cannot be ascertained if the beneficiaries are real people and not ghost beneficiaries.

Duterte claimed that the new hearing aims at discrediting her name and the OVP.

“What we are witnessing now is no ordinary legislative inquiry. This exercise is a well-funded and coordinated political attack. This much is evident from the very words of the privilege speech that prompted this inquiry. A speech that simply meant to say, do not vote for Sara in 2028,” the vice president said.

“It is clear to me that this inquiry is not about misused funds, accountability, or governance, instead it is only aimed at discrediting my name and my office to prevent future political contests,” she added.

Duterte and the OVP are currently under fire after budget hearings at the House revealed issues on confidential funds in 2022 and 2023 and anomalies in the delivery of projects.

Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe previously said that Duterte may be held liable for graft if she cannot explain how funds were spent, particularly items with adverse findings from the Commission on Audit (COA).

The COA issued a notice of disallowance on P73.2 million of the OVP’s P125-million CF for 2022 — an item that several lawmakers said should not be available in the first place, as the original budget crafted under former Vice President Leni Robredo did not have such.