Vice Sara thanks Imee for supporting Duterte family

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte yesterday thanked the President’s sister Sen. Imee Marcos for her steadfast support as she admitted that the Duterte family is going through a “rough patch.”

“It is true that the political side of our family is going through a rough patch right now... So I thank you, Sen.Imee Marcos, for your continued support,” Duterte said in chance interview with reporters on the sidelines of an event in Davao City.

Marcos on Wednesday reiterated her support for the Duterte family, especially for its patriarch, former president Rodrigo Duterte, days after several lawmakers spoke up against him for branding the House of Representatives as the “most rotten” government institution and for accusing Speaker Martin Romualdez of having huge sums of discretionary fund or pork barrel supposedly for distribution to lawmakers.

Over 300 lawmakers from the House of Representatives on Monday voted for the adoption of Resolution 1414 expressing support for Romualdez and the House leadership.

On the same day, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. resigned from the older Duterte’s once ruling party, PDP-Laban, before baring during the plenary session that it was the former president who was maligning the reputation of the House.

Duterte’s tirade against the lower chamber came after it decided to strip the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd), which are both headed by his daughter Sara, of confidential funds in 2024.

The House said the OVP and DepEd’s combined P650-million proposed confidential funds for next year must be realigned to agencies handling national security concerns, primarily regarding the West Philippine Sea.

In a statement read during the Senate hearing of the OVP’s proposed budget for 2024 on Thursday, the younger Duterte said the OVP as well as the DepEd would no longer pursue their request for confidential funds for next year in order to move on from such a “divisive” issue.

“The Office of the Vice President can only propose a budget to support safe implementation of our programs, activities and projects to alleviate poverty and promote the general welfare of