Sara a no-show at Palaro rites in Cebu

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President and outgoing Education Secretary Sara Duterte was a no-show at the opening ceremony of the Palarong Pambansa 2024 held in Cebu City yesterday, even if the Department of Education (DepEd) is the primary government agency tasked to lead the event in partnership with the Cebu provincial government.

The ceremony would have been the first public event of President Marcos and Duterte together since the Vice President resigned from the Cabinet last June 19.

It also took place exactly a week after Marcos announced that Sen. Sonny Angara would succeed Duterte as the DepEd chief.

Responding to reporters’ queries on Duterte’s absence at the annual sporting event, DepEd spokesman and Undersecretary Michael Poa said that Duterte opted to visit athletes confined in a hospital yesterday afternoon “to boost their morale.”

At least two student athletes set to compete in the Palaro were hospitalized due to dengue, based on local news reports.

“She did not attend the (Palarong Pambansa) opening,” Poa confirmed to reporters in Manila inquiring about the event.

In a message posted on her Facebook account and released by the DepEd to the media, Duterte congratulated the competing athletes and schools as well as the Cebu provincial government.

She extended her wishes for the success of the initiatives launched by the DepEd under her term, especially those aimed at improving the quality of education.

“As we open the Palarong Pambasa 2024 in Cebu City today, I am praying and hoping for the success of our endeavors to promote appropriate, timely and quality education for the Filipino youth,” she said in her statement written in Filipino.

Duterte is set to end her term as education secretary on July 19. She did not cite reasons for quitting her post.

Before her resignation, the relationship between Duterte’s family and the Marcoses turned sour, to the point that her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and the President were already trading barbs in public.

First Lady Liza Marcos later revealed that she was no longer in good terms with the Vice President because the latter laughed after the elder Duterte had accused the President of being high on